The Stranger Summer
by Ann of Midnight
Summary: Post season 1 Smallville and season 6 Buffy. Clark goes to Sunnydale. Chapter 16-
1. Off the bus

STRANGER SUMMER 

  
  


_Chapter 1_

**BY:** Ann of Midnight 

**DISCLAIMER:** You know these aren't mine in any way, right? 

**SPOILERS:** This is a post season 1 Smallville and post season 6 Buffy fic.

His aunt had let him go wash up before dinner and he was scrubbing with all his might. He should have run, he thought, thinking back to the horrible bus rides he had had to endure. He had been grappling with super smell and hearing, and being confined in a bus for two days was the worst experience of his young life. He had hoped for any excuse to leave the bus but he had had no such luck. The super boy from Kansas had to sit it out just like everyone else. 

His parents had thought it best that he disappear for awhile, after everything that had happened in his life and that of his friends that year. So Clark Jerome Kent set off under the guise of helping his uncle and aunt, who owned a construction company. He was told he's be working on a new office building for a growing packaging business in a small California town called Sunnydale. 

Chloe had left for Metropolis and the Daily Planet right out of their last exam. Pete's dream of a leisurely summer crumbled when got roped into helping his mother at the courthouse. Lex was probably the busiest of all, trying to secure the future of the Smallville plant and his own before his father was strong enough to fight back. 

Clark hadn't protested the summer gig. The normal teenager in him didn't find being away from his parents and Kansas a horrible idea. Luckily, and thanks to Lex, his parents had enough money to hire the farm hands they would need in his absence. Still, he wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do. 

His aunt had immediately urged him to get out and meet people, but he felt awkward. He couldn't just walk up to people and introduce himself. His longtime friend Pete had latched onto him in Grade School. Chloe had latched onto their group in High School. Lana he had to talk to because he got caught in the cemetery at night and Lex crashed into him with his car. He was profoundly grateful that all of these people had seen something in him, because it might have taken him forever to make the first move. Still, Lex had helped him feel more comfortable with himself.

He went to bed early, he had to work in the morning.

* * *

_CONSTRUCTION SITE_

"I'm a little nervous, I usually work alone."

"Well, your aunt says you're very strong and you take direction well, so I don't foresee any problems." said the older man, handing Clark a yellow hard hat and eying a clip board.

"Great. Um. Mr. Harris?"

"Xander, please, Mr. Harris is the horrible bastard that calls himself my father," the man joked, his smile slightly sad.

"Xander, I know my aunt kind of made you give me this job, and I want you to know that if I don't work out..."

"You'll do fine kid, besides, you're wearing flannel, you'll blend."

"Okay."

"And, it says here on this form that you're 16, so can you give me your date of birth again."

"It's right. I am 16."

Xander laughed. "You're funny. We'll work this out later, we should get out there."

* * *

_LUNCH_

Clark was sitting at a makeshift table outside the work area, his packed lunch in front of him. "So, Kent, what did you think of this morning?" Asked his boss, pulling up a hunk of wood to sit on. He pulled an insane amount of food out of his backpack.

"Well, the guys are..." Searching for the right word.

"Just a tad unrefined, I know, but they work hard." The man eyed Clark's rabbit food, then opened a big bag of chips and set them in front of the boy who dug in instantly.

"The work's easy enough to get used to, though, kinda like on a farm. Carry this out, put that there, hold this, get out of the way, go fetch-"

"Roll over, play dead...Yeah, so since we'll be putting in the wiring next, my best advice is: don't get electrocuted."

"Are you concerned for me or are you afraid of my aunt?"

"Well one, death by electrocution is not as glamorous as it may seem, and two... I hate to say it bro, but your aunt can be one scary lady. We had to push back the schedule because of a recent ... earthquake..." His face fell, he stopped chewing and he looked sad for a moment. He couldn't shake it off completely and when he spoke again, he was practically whispering. "Let's just say I don't want to let her down again. So keep metal objects away from any outlet."

"I'll do that." 

"So, first time in Sunnydale?"

"Yep. It seems like and awfully religious town, I must have counted 15 churches just from the bus station to the house."

"Yeah, there are a lot. Did you count the cemeteries?"

"I saw 2 pretty large ones. It's strange having them in the middle of town, isn't it?" 

"You know there are like, 14 of them."

Clark wasn't sure what the appropriate response was. "That seems a bit excessive." 

Xander laughed knowingly. "Yeah. Anyway, stay away from them. And try not to go out after dark."

"I really don't have any reason to. I don't know anyone here, so I might walk around a little when we're done but that's about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I notice you didn't break a sweat this morning, and I through out my back a few days ago..." Clark verified the statement with his ex-ray vision. "Anyway, if you're interested, the earthquake banged up my ex's store, and I foolishly volunteered to fix everything."

Clark smiled brightly.

"I mean, there wouldn't be much in the way of pay, you might be able to get one, maybe two jelly donuts a night..."

Clark felt at ease with his boss. The guy was young, funny and he reminded him of the way his friends talk back home. If this after work thing panned out, his aunt and uncle wouldn't have to worry about him too much and it would be much less awkward.

* * *

_NEARING the MAGIC BOX_

"A magic store? You mean for magicians?"

"Not quite. We have an occult book research section, supplies for spells, statues, and jewelry... That said, whatever you do, if you see a medallion with an inscription on it, don't read it out loud... not unless you like singing and dancing. And ask if you want to read any of the books. Just trust me."

"Okay." Clark asked, looking funnily at Xander.

They stepped into the Magic Box. A short redhead girl was stepping over a pile of books to get to a door. Upon seeing them, she put her water bottle down and came to greet them. She had a lovely bright hair and not a stitch of makeup on. She was dressed casually, all in black, and looked so very tired. She smiled.

"Hey Xander." 

She hugged him warmly, but didn't let go after several seconds. She just shifted in her hug to be able to face Clark. 

"Clark is a co-worker. He's going to be helping me patch this place up."

"Hi. I'm Willow."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Where are the girls?" Asked Xander.

"We haven't seen Anya. She disappeared a while ago, so I think she may have gotten an 'assignment'. Dawn and Buffy are training in the back. I was just getting them some water."

"So, how are you holding up?" His boss whispered, walking her down to the middle of the store.

"Well, I got up, I ate something, I took a shower and I'm here right now. I think I'll be okay, today."

"Do we need anything at home?"

"Kleenex, toilet paper, soap, milk, cereal, sandwich meats, mustard, lettuce and detergent... I made a list like you asked."

"So we'll make a stop at the grocery store on the way back."

"Guess so." 

"Clark, come down here. I'll introduce you to the rest of my family."

Clark cautiously sidestepped whatever was in the way and met Willow and Xander at the back of the store. 

* * *

_BACK ROOM_

Two girls were fighting with quarterstaffs. One was clearly instructing the other.

"That's good Dawnie, but if I were attacking you'd be in trouble."

"Then attack me so I can know what I'm doing wrong."

Buffy started going faster and lightly hitting Dawn's sides whenever she could. 

"Don't be afraid to hit me."

Dawn picked up her concentration. As they pivoted around each other Dawn saw they had an audience. She also saw how utterly scrumptious Clark was and she stopped abruptly. Then Buffy turned to see what was up and accidentally hit her sister hard enough to send her crashing to the floor a few feet away.

"Ow, you cow! What the hell?" 

Buffy hurried to help her up.

"Sorry Dawn. I didn't mean it."

"I know."

Willow, who was still snuggled up to Xander, put the water bottle on the vaulting horse.

"I got your water, Dawnie."

Dawn was too busy undoing her braid and checking herself out in the mirror to respond.

"So who have you brought me here, Xander?"

"Buffy, this is Clark Kent from Kansas, he's in town for the summer, he works with me. He offered to help out."

"Offered huh?"

"Okay, I bribed him with the thought of a few luscious pastries."

"Then we better get two dozen. Hi, I'm Dawn, I'm Buffy's sister."

"Nice to meet you," Clark said, extending his hand to shake hers.

"Buffy's underage sister," Buffy pointed out.

Clark didn't say anything.

"You know Buff, according to his papers, he's 16."

"Shut up!" exclaimed Dawn, looking totally infatuated.

"No way. You huge, huge liar." Buffy lightheartedly teased Clark, dragging Dawn aside. "Dawn, do not go thinking anything, he is not 16. No sixteen year old looks like that."

"No one looks like that," stated the younger Summers, not taking her eyes off the new arrival.

Buffy herself checked him out throughoutly. "You're right, it should be illegal," she concluded.

"Yeah." Dawn said dreamily.

"I wonder what they put in the water in Kansas...No touching till we know what's the what. Wait, what am I saying? No touching at all."

"Hey, I'm aloud to date. You're just saying that 'cause you want him for yourself."

"No I don't... I don't-"

"Fine, just looking. Do you think he'll take his shirt off to work?"

"I think we deserve a break, let's hang out for a bit before going on the donut run..."

Clark was blushing furiously, having heard every word from across the room. He tried to avoid eye contact as the sisters walked back towards them. He turned to the other man.

"Xander, tell me what to do."

Buffy smiled and poked Xander in the ribs. "Now that's not something you hear very often."


	2. In the night

The Stranger Summer 

  
  


_Chapter 2_

**BY:**Ann of Midnight

**DISCLAIMER:** You know these aren't mine in any way, right?

Clark still wasn't what you'd call talkative; he tended to do his job. Still, you could see he was getting more and more comfortable with the three girls he had met less than two weeks ago.

Xander? Well, he was just glad to have another man around. Made him feel a little less outnumbered.

"Girls, I know it's hard, but can you please stop ogling?"

"But Xander, this is the very best part of our day," teased the blond slayer. 

She and her sister Dawn had their feet up on the table that sat in the center of the Magic Box. They were happily watching Clark and Xander pick up heavy objects, move them... and then set them down. Taking a break from training every night before patrol to banter with the boys and eat snack food was becoming a habit, and both girls enjoyed it immensely. 

Dawn got in on the action as well. "Xander, can you just step to the right, you're blocking my view."

"Thanks a lot!"

"That's mean Dawn, Xander has a nice ass too, don't you Xander?"

"I sure do," said the dark-haired man, shaking his bon-bon to prove his point. The girls were eating popcorn, and Dawn nearly choked to death when she saw that little performance.

Buffy and Xander laughed out loud. Clark wore an embarrassed smile and a perma-blush.

"Can I ask you something?" 

"Go ahead," answered Buffy.

"This isn't a dig, okay? I'm just wondering if you guys are like this all the time."

"You mean shameless?" Questioned Xander. "It's simple really. We haven't had the best time this past year and we're trying to get back to a place where we can smile again."

Xander stopped talking when he saw Willow had stepped out of the back room and heard the comment. 

Willow smiled shyly at Clark. "Also, we'd have to be blind not to see what's in front of us. You're one hot enchilada," she deadpanned. 

Everyone had a laugh but Clark could see Willow's eyes well up with tears. He didn't know what to do. She just smiled bravely. "If I can see it, everyone can, so get used to it." 

The redhead suddenly looked unsteady on her feet. As she fell, Clark ran up to catch her from behind. What he didn't catch a glimpse of, however, were what looked like lightning bolts shooting out of her hands and into the floor, cracking it. 

Clark set her down on the counter as Xander and Buffy went for supplies. When she came to Buffy had bandaged her hands and Xander had a cold water cloth pressed on her forehead. He whispered to her lovingly.

"Take me home," she whimpered.

"Clark, is it all right if I take off early on you? Buffy can walk you home."

"That's not necessary."

"Come on, we tease but we're not really crazy."

"I'll take a cab."

"That works," Xander acquiesced, carrying Willow out the door. "Oh, and if you see Anya, tell her we'll be done next week, but she can probably open in a couple of days, provided we know what to with those books. See you in the morning Clark!"

Buffy and Clark waved to Xander. The door closed and Clark started sweeping up the mess he and Xander had made cutting wood for a new cabinet.

Dawn ran in, having taped up a banged-up finger and sore wrist.

"I'm ready for patrol, oh great one," she said, showing off her bandages.

"Okay, let me get my purse."

"Clark, promise me you will take a taxi."

"I will."

"Okay, the number's by the phone. Don't stay too late, see you tomorrow."

"By Clark." Dawn said, heading out the door. She doubled back, got on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "See you."

Clark was going to have to have a talk with that girl, he thought morosely. She was so nice, but he had enough complications in his personal life. He just couldn't get together with a girl this summer, not when he was already emotionally involved with three people back home.

Clark finished up in record time and locked up, leaving the key where he had been previously told. 

He was finally going to be able to visit this town without being reprimanded by one of his friends or his guardians. 

He set out aimlessly into the night air. 

After walking for several miles, he started wondering why the heck his friends were so uptight about people being out at night. All he knew was that gangs abounded, and Buffy and her friends were part of some sort of Neighborhood Watch group. He had seen the sisters could protect themselves, but he was starting to think they were a little over-zealous. As far as he could tell, the streets were completely deserted with the exception of a few cars whizzing by every now and then. 

He tried a new tactic, listening with his powers. He had never really done this in Smallville, because it was something new, and he didn't want to intrude, but there had to be more going on than what he could tell as a human. 

There were so many cries of pain at once he almost fell to the ground. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the one closest to him. He closed his eyes and followed the cry. It was a woman, she was screaming for help in an ally. When he got there, the woman had fallen and was dragging herself into a corner. The men were laughing.

"Excuse me, but I think you should leave her alone," Clark said, stepping up behind them.

"Or what?"

"Or you'll be sorry."

"This won't take long, kid, then you're next."

"Next for what exactly?"

The man nearest Clark's face changed and he declared, licking his lips. "I'm hungry."

Clark was fearlessly staring at the other man, however, who was advancing on the woman. 

The game-faced vamp hit him in the stomach, and doubled over in pain. He hit him again from the back with both his hands as a club, and doubled over in pain. Clark didn't budge. He just coolly walked towards the distressed woman.

The hurting vampire held his buddy back. "He's a robot or something. We should get out of here."

"Fine, we'll eat at the Bronze you sissy."

"Wherever man, I broke my hands!" he showed his vampire friend as they walked away, very fast.

After they were gone, Clark extended his hand to the woman and waited for her to get up.

"My name is Clark Kent, what's yours?"

"Toni."

"Now that we're acquainted, where can I take you?"

"I live down the block. Oh God, I was almost home," she sobbed. 

He walked her to her building and watched her walk in, then he used his ex-ray vision to makes sure she got to her apartment in one piece. 

He couldn't help but feel some happiness at the fact that he was learning to control his powers. He was definitely appreciating them more as time went on. Perhaps he was maturing, he thought.

It was only ten o'clock, so he kept on walking. When he was sure no one could see him, he closed his eyes again and opened the flood. He stood there a long time, trying to only listen to the people closest to him. 

He had saved four other people by the time he realized he was completely lost. One girl was running from an abusive boyfriend. A younger man he saved from a group of unsavory looking characters and he saved a couple running away from the same alley men by simply hailing a cab and opening the door for them as they rounded a corner. The men were not pleased, but Clark was long gone before they could get to him. 

After aimlessely walking around for an hour, he decided to try and pick out Buffy and Dawn talking, so he could either: get to a part of town where there was a phone, find a street he knew by himself, or beg them to tell him where he was and how to get home. He wasn't too thrilled about the last option, because they had been so adamant about not walking anywhere at night, but he would bear the criticism if he had too.

He listened hard, and then listened harder. He went through the voices in his head like radio stations. Many times he thought he had them, but the rhythms of the conversations were off. He almost yelled Bingo when he heard them after a very long 15 minutes, but he wasn't a complete dolt. He drowned out the other noise and tried following their voices with his eyes open this time. 

"Buffy, behind you!"

"Got it! *Pause* Wasn't too stealthy that one."

"Why won't you let me bring the crossbow? I could have had him easy."

"Because weapons like the crossbow can make you cocky, when you bring nothing, you have to think on your toes."

"Oh, you dropped your purse."

"Eww, and now I've got Dust-in-the-Wind's remains are all over it. Damn, and inside too."

"Why do you carry a purse anyway?"

"Because most of my new clothes are pocket-free, and when all else fails you can belt someone with it."

"True... so do you think we can stop by Spi- I mean Clem's? I feel the need for a caffeinated beverage."

"I guess that couldn't hurt. We'll do one more sweep after and head home. I don't like you disrupting your sleep patterns too much. It'll be hell when you go back to school."

"I go to High School Buffy, it'll be hell weather or not I'm tired."

"So true. Hey, what about going to rent ourselves a couple of girl movies after we're done with the crypts? Could be fun."

"Maybe, but that's all we've been watching."

"Right, so we visit the land of nod."

"What?"

"We sleep, Dawn."

"I knew that. So how do you manage to fight demons in platforms? I nearly broke my ankle and I'm wearing high tops."

Clark though they're conversation was a bit curious, but was mostly trying not to run into a tree. He was crossing a small forest when a scream broke through and shook his insides. He was filled with grief and sadness and terror and rage and all he could hear was that gut-wrenching scream. 

On total overload, all he could think of was getting to this person. He ran with super speed through the forest, a cemetery, several streets, a backyard or two and got to a fairly good looking house. The light turned on but there was no movement through the grand windows. He used his ex-ray vision to get an idea of what was going on inside, and listened carefully. 

Two adults, a man and a woman, were sitting up in bed. The man had his arms around a shrieking female. As Clark was running, all he heard was 'NO'. Now, it was different. 

"Tara! Tara! No! Please don't leave me baby! Tara!!! No! NO! NO! Not Tara, please not Tara. Please don't take her!" The cries gradually turned to sobs, and Clark couldn't help but let a few tears out himself. 

"Ssshh. It's just a dream. I'm here Will, come on. Let it go. It's okay. I'm here." 

"No. My Tara. TARA!" She screamed, and Clark saw something explode in front of them. They didn't move. 

"Let it out. It's okay. I'm here and everything's okay." 

"No it's not. It will never be alright ever again." 

"Isn't that what I thought every time my uncle Rory got through with me? Isn't that what I thought every time my mother went in the hospital?" 

"Xander, it was Tara. She's gone... She's gone..." 

"I know sweetie. I know." 

And the woman sobbed, and sobbed and sobbed, and Clark's recent suspicions were confirmed when the cries turned into whimpers and he saw Xander step out of the room. He watched as the man got himself something to eat and sat down, massaging his temples.

Clark couldn't just walk away, so he took a chance. 


	3. Guy talk

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 3_**

**BY:**Ann of Midnight

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own anything at all, okay?

Clark Kent knocked on the door and waited patiently for his friend Xander to come answer it. 

Clark knew from experience he looked innocent. He wasn't too worried his story wouldn't fly. He normally would butt out of what was clearly not his business but he really wanted to know what was wrong. 

Xander and he talked at work, sure, but he didn't know that much about him. He had funny stories. He also seemed to like to reminisce about his childhood with Willow and a guy named Jesse. He had assumed for a whole week that Willow was the ex he was talking about, or possibly a girlfriend, but he had learned the as yet unseen Anya was. He got warnings about her frankness every day. He didn't understand about the heads up, considering the sisters were as direct as was humanly possible with him. 

Xander opened the door suspiciously and stepped aside. He was still in his boxer shorts but had himself covered with a couch cushion. 

"Clark, what are you doing out this late? Did you just finish?" 

"No, but I went home and my aunt and uncle weren't there. I forgot my key. I wanted to ask the taxi to wait at the house but he wouldn't so I asked him to drive me here instead, is that okay?" 

"You took a cab here?" 

"Yes I did, he just left; I heard some screaming though, so I wasn't sure if it was safe to come up." 

"Sure it is, Willow's just having a rough night." 

"So can I come in?" Questioned the teenager. 

"Wait one second," asked the older brunette. "Can you hold this please?" he said, handing Clark the couch cushion. Hi hand disappeared behind his back. "Think fast," he said, throwing a cross at Clark, who dropped the cushion and caught it with ease. 

Clark looked up from the cross in his hand to Xander, back to the cross, and then back to Xander. 

"Is everything okay?" "Yeah, no problem, come in," he smiled, relief all over his face. 

Xander took the cross out of Clark's hand and set it down on the table. "Sit down, make yourself comfortable." He went to the refrigerator. "I've got beer, beer, beer, orange juice or… tap water." 

"No milk?" 

"There is, but I'm not sure how long it's been in there. If you want to take a chance though..." 

"I'm fine." 

"Sorry about the milk but I really shouldn't let you have it without proper medical insurance." 

Xander pulled out a beer for himself and joined Clark at the table. 

"Sorry about my nakedness. It's just I don't want to wake Willow up to get a robe." 

"That's okay Xander." Clark noticed Xander's that eyes were red from rubbing; that he looked sickly, slightly flushed like he had a light fever. A quick scan of his internal organs told him his boss wasn't functioning so well. "So what's wrong?" 

"Remember I told you we hadn't had the best year? Well, among other things, Willow's girlfriend got shot. Willow was close enough to get blood splattered all over her, and she hadn't been doing too well before that so-"

"Oh, no." 

"Yeah. Tara was everything to Willow and she… Well she sort of lost it after she died. They were living with Buffy and Dawn, but because that's where it happened she hasn't set foot there since. I had some of her clothes brought over… She sleeps in my bed. We sleep in my bed. She doesn't want to be alone, you know?" 

"But what about you? You're clearly exhausted and you're injured-"

"Taking care of Willow is my #1 priority. If she needs to be clingy and co-dependant; I'll be there. If she needs to hit someone, I'll be there. If she needs to scream and curse and destroy things I'll wait and pick up the mess. She would do the same for me." 

"You guys really have a wonderful friendship." 

"I've gotta be honest, it all depends. We've been taking each other for granted on and off. That's all changing. We all promised each other." 

Xander took a deep breath and smiled a half-smile. "Thanks Clark. It feels nice to talk about it with someone else. There hasn't been a boy Scooby since… well, Oz I guess." 

"What's a Scooby?" 

"We didn't tell you? Since High School we've been calling each other the Scooby gang. Like Scooby Doo, the cartoon," he pulled out his counting fingers. "See Buffy was Daphne, Willow was Velma, I'm Shaggy, Oz was Scooby, Dawn, well I guess she was Scrappy, but don't tell her that, Cordelia was… Daphne… Wait… how did that work?" 

"Don't look at me." 

There was a long pause. Xander finished his beer and went for another. He stared at it for a long time before reluctantly putting it back in the refrigerator. He sighed. "Hey, do you think your substitute parental figures are back?" The man changed the subject.

"Maybe." 

"Buffy was like, the boss of us so she wasn't a Scooby." Xander shook his head. "Anyway, Oz didn't talk much, but he was cool. Then there was Angel, who was a total… I don't think I can find the right word," he gritted his teeth, "And Riley was a different experience, but I could see he wouldn't last. Liked him enough though. Not even going to get into the subject of the last guy that infiltrated our little unit, I broke the punching bag a week ago just thinking about him so…"

"That bad huh?" Clark asked, trying to think of how to move away from the subject. "So being friends with a bunch of girls doesn't get to you?" He asked, cringing at how scripted he sounded. 

"No, it's the lack of testosterone that can be killer. It gets kind of lonely." 

"Well, I'm lucky then. I've got two girl friends, and two guy friends back home." 

"Cool." 

"Yeah, they are. Pete has been my best friend since forever. Lana is this girl I had a crush on since I first saw her, but we've become friends this year. Chloe runs the school newspaper, and she's oh- I forgot! Do you guys have an 'International House of Press?" 

"We have an International House of Pancakes." 

"Chloe's interning at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. I wanted to see her name in the credits." 

"I'll ask around tomorrow." Xander promised, calling a cab with the portable phone. He then gave Clark his full attention. 

"And then there's Lex. He's… He's just Lex." Clark said, always having trouble describing his best friend. 

"Like I haven't heard that name enough. Is that short for Alexander?" 

"Yes." 

"You know, Lex sounds a lot cooler than Xander. I'm still kicking myself for not having thought of it." 

"I don't know." 

"And don't mention that name around Anya. Please. She decorated the guest bedroom closet with pictures of Lex Luthor. She like, worships him. Every time he's mentioned she goes into a dream-like state it takes forever to get her out of. When Buffy comes over, Anya says they should bond so they disappear into that room and come out all glowy faced, fanning themselves. I'm pretty sure that's for show though." 

"Haha. Now that's funny. She has a picture of Lex on her wall?" 

"The whole closet is full! She reads up on him, prints interviews, locks herself in there to do God knows what when I'm not paying attention. She thinks he's all that." 

"Why?" 

"Ladies dig him. He's been runner up as America's most eligible bachelor for 3 years now, behind Bruce Wayne. She's got all the 'sexiest people alive' lists he's been on. She even has a limited edition poster." 

"Really?" 

"Anya's role models are people that manage to hang on to money. Plus he's got that whole 'bad boy' thing going on. Personally, I never got the allure." 

"Are you serious?" 

"About what?" 

"The whole eligible, sexy thing?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

"He never told me." 

"Huh?" 

"My friend… he's Lex Luthor." 

Before Xander could respond, he heard moaning from the bedroom. Willow was having another nightmare and he ran into the room to wake her up. 

"No, no, no…"

Clark stood in the doorway. Xander was sitting on the side of the bed, taking Willow's pulse and her temperature with his hand. 

Clark didn't know what to do, watching her thrash around, in pain. Xander told him to stay put as he ran to get some ice. 

Willow bolted up in bed and lurched forward, like her body couldn't control itself. Clark surged forward to steady her, grabbing her hands. She opened her eyes, and you could see lightening in them. Clark didn't have time to do anything before she yelled 'no' again and he got majorly electrocuted. The current definitely hit him, because he'd been hit by electricity before. The current made the rounds in his body and then died, he guessed. 

Xander had gotten back and pried them apart. 

"Are you all right?" He asked, a hint of anger in his eyes. 

"I'm fine," Clark said, "but Willow's-"

"Your cab's been beeping, you better go." Xander dismissed him. Willow had fainted and he used the ice packs on her sweaty hands and forehead. 

"Shouldn't we bring her to a doctor?" 

"No, I know what I'm doing. Goodbye Clark." 

Clark scanned Willow quickly and found her heart beating steadily and other vital organs working. 

As he walked out, he had to wonder: had Xander seen him get shocked? Had Willow known what was happening? Did they know why she was spewing out electric energy? And how the hell had he not known about Lex's stud status?


	4. Tofu and chips

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 4_**

**BY:**Ann of Midnight

**DISCLAIMER:**Smallville or Buffy are **so** not mine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn walked into the Magic Box, ready for work. She found someone unexpected at the research table. 

"Willow, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't comfortable here by yourself? 

"Thanks for not saying I'm not allowed to be here alone. Anyhow, I though Anya would open early for sure, with 'Midsummer' coming up so soon." 

"What's Midsummer?" 

"A pagan Sabbat." 

"Like a holiday?" 

"Yeah. Xander's got a dial-up modem and my laptop was here. And truthfully," she added, "if I spent another day watching daytime TV and crying in my cereal I don't know what I would have done." 

"I know what you mean" Dawn responded truthfully. She had lost enough people in her life to know the ups and downs of grieving."So what are you up to?" 

"I'm doing a background check on someone and-" 

"Really? That's great! Can you show me how you do it?" 

"There's no way I'm going to show you how to hack, but you can watch the process." 

"Cool." Dawn pulled up a chair and made herself comfortable. 

"So who is it?" 

"Clark." 

"Oh, no! Why are you investigating Clark? He's done nothing but be super nice; did something happen? Have you all be keeping secrets from me again," Dawn asked emotionally, "because I swear if you have-" 

"Yes and no. See Dawnie, we usually don't look anyone up until something happens. I sort of took an interest when Clark showed up with Xander, but he wasn't snooping where he wasn't supposed to, he wasn't asking questions and he and Xander really get along. I didn't really have the energy anyway, so I didn't do anything." 

"So what did you learn so far? Nothing, right?" 

"He's exactly who he says he is. He was adopted in 1989, by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who are both alive and involved in their son's life." 

"How do you know?" She asked, squinting at the screen. 

"I called the house and introduced myself. They sure are proud of him." 

"That's so sweet." Dawn said wistfully. 

"Yeah. So right now I only have the basics. He goes to Smallville High and he probably is 16, give or take a year." 

"Buffy's going to freak when she finds out she's been checking out a guy who's like, 10 years younger than her." 

"Try 6." 

"Whatever, it's still like, 'wrong', and I'm going to love seeing her face. I can tell her right? Can I tell her? Please Willow, please, please, please, please let me?" At Willow's nod she clapped her hands excitedly and did a little arm dance. "Woo. So what else have you got?" 

"Writes for the school paper, gets great grades, ran for Class president and lost." 

Dawn frowned sympathetically. "You're in the school records, what do you do next?" 

"I haven't found anything that would make me suspicious, but let's say I want to go deeper, what else could help?" 

"Newspaper?" 

"It would be a long shot; he's really young, but we can check just in case," Willow said, clicking on 

"The Smallville Ledger. What's a Ledger?" 

"ledg·er n

1. a book or page with columns for debits and credits, on which to transcribe financial records

2. a gravestone that lies flat on the ground

3. a horizontal beam in a scaffolding that is attached to the uprights and supports the beams (putlogs)" 

"Say wha?" 

Willow went on explaining the procedure. "So I type his last name in here and we'll see if something comes up." 

"12 articles?" 

"Maybe his parents are famous?" Willow supplied her theory. 

"Or maybe he is. Check it out." Dawn said, getting closer to the screen. 

"**Local Boy saves Lex Luthor**," read the redhead. 

"Wow, go to the next one." 

"**Lex Luthor 2, Death 0.** _Lex Luthor sacrificed himself today as a madman took control of Luthorcorp #3 Fertilizer plant. His bold move ensured the visiting freshman class of Smallville High School, got out safely_… Yadda, yadda, yadda… _Luckily, student Clark Kent stayed behind… helped him cheat death once again by pulling both the young scion and the Hostage taker up from the side of a bridge that was about to collapse_… bla, bla, bla," she said, skimming once more. "_Lionel Luthor was forced to make the decision to lock down before his heir could get free and looked relieved when his son was pronounced safe_… Something, something. _Luthorcorp insist officially there never was a level three but nevertheless announced the company will pay the man's medical bills._" 

Willow skimmed through the rest of the articles, some of them mentioning Clark's name in passing, one mentioning the death of the Kent's cow heard and two others were write ups dealing with Martha Kent's organic produce and gardening. 

When she was done, she pointed to a group of articles on the screen. "There are still all those about bad things happening while he's around, but-"

"Buffy's 'around' when bad things happen, but she's not the one 'doing it'" 

"Maybe our boy has a savior complex." 

"Or it could be a coincidence." 

"Yes. So what else could be relevant?" Asked the older woman.

"Don't look at me." 

"How about the school newspaper, or his adoption records?" 

"Why those?" 

"Something he wrote or someone else wrote about him could give us insight into his psyche, and his adoption records may lead us to the reason why I electrocuted him and he didn't budge." 

"You what?" Jumped the brunette, caught off guard.

"The magic withdrawal, or shortage or whatever the heck it is. God, it happened again last night. Only this time Clark was with Xander. I'm not sure what happened but Xander said he left for some ice and Clark came it to help. Xander pried us apart after it was over but he was perfectly fine. You remember the scars it left on Xander when he got hit with some, and my hands, well…" She readjusted her bandages. 

"Yeah, so how could that be?" 

"Demon blood?" 

"Maybe. But he looks awfully good for a demon." 

"Alien?" 

They both laughed. 

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the surge wasn't as powerful as before. Another charge blew up Xander's lamp, like an hour earlier." 

"Why don't we just ask him?" 

"Hey Clark, how was your day? So, while you were there last night, did I electrocute you by any chance? Because if I did I am so sorry… M'not sure that would go over real well." 

"Right." 

The door opened and in walked a group of women. Dawn went to help them while Willow checked into Clark's adoption. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark was nervous as ever. It was lunchtime at the construction site, and Xander hadn't addressed him yet. They had just awkwardly gone about their work, trying not to make eye contact. Both of them were emotional men, and that did not help their situation. 

Clark sat down at his usual 'table' and started nibbling on the salad his aunt had prepared. He nodded his head 'hey' to the co-workers that walked by. Clark didn't know what to do; he wanted to offer his boss an olive branch. 

He was just about to give up on the horrid food all together when a humongous bag of chips was set right in front of him. He turned to see Xander pull up a stump next to him. 

Clark dug in, relieved. 

"Hey man." 

"Hey. Look, I'm sorry for intruding yesterday, that wasn't my intention," he said sincerely. 

Then he felt bad, because that had been precisely his intention at the time. 

"Don't worry about it Clark. I just get overprotective of Willow. I wouldn't want anyone to see me that way, you know, sick and stuff." 

"Yeah." 

"So, you're okay?" asked the older man. 

"I'm fine." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah," Clark insisted. 

He just didn't know whether he was supposed to mention what had happened, or pretend he had no idea. On one hand, Willow was experiencing something supernatural that he would like to know about, on the other, admitting he knew and possibly felt it, he could expose himself as "something supernatural." 

If Chloe had been here in his place she would be investigating, but Clark wasn't sure if that was a good option. He liked to believe the best of people, and he truly believed his new friends were of the good. So that meant that if something supernatural was going on, and they could handle it, he didn't really have the right to expose them. 

"You're cool Clark." 

"Thanks." 

And that made him feel worse. He was trying to convince himself not to get involved with whatever was happening. He was shy around them. He just was. These were not the people he had known forever. This was not the town he had grown up in… and the sisters were intimidating, fun, but intimidating. He had to admit he was very curious. He never could help helping people, and he had thought, no, he had known Willow needed help that night. She may still need help… Maybe he could help? 

Stop yapping and eat the chips, Clark he thought, shutting out his confusing inner dialogue. 

Xander looked far away. "Sometimes I just forget there are normal people out there," he sighed, not sure if he had said it aloud or not. 

Clark nodded, understanding profoundly. 

They sat in silence in their own little worlds until Buffy came up from behind them. They both had a small-scale heart attacks when she tickled them. 

"Jeez, Buff, you just took ten years off my life…. At this rate I'm going to bite it like, 2 years ago." 

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist." 

"So what are my two favorite hunks doing tonight?" 

"Recovering from the aneurysm you just gave me." 

"Clark?" 

"Ditto." 

"So, what'ya doing here? Did anyone see you?" The older man inquired. 

"I ducked as many of the boys I could," the blond reassured him. 

"Good. I wouldn't want them starting up with me again about the last time you were here and that whole debacle." 

"Oh, come on. They are such babies. Anyway, I had the early morning shift at the fabulous Doublemeat Palace and now that I'm done, and have had two showers, I decided to stop by here and ask you if you had extra wood. See, I would buy it, but I don't want to." 

"I'll go check," Xander stated, standing up. 

"Behave," he told Buffy, "and hands off the Ho-ho's!" 

Buffy looked happily at Clark who was trying to look busy filling his tofu sandwich up with a mountain of chips. 

"You think it's going to help?" 

"It has to," he said almost desperately, putting the second piece of bread back on top and pressing on it. 

"So, how are you liking your summer 'abroad?" 

"It's going good. A little homesick, but since my friends are busy, I don't feel bad about being here." Clark finally found a way to hold his sandwich without half of it falling out and he dug in. 

Buffy gave him credit for not gagging. "So what are you doing tonight?" 

"Helping Xander at the Magic Box." 

"Come on, it's Friday night! We haven't gone out in months and we still haven't shown you a good time. There's this club, it's pretty lame but it's home-"

"I'm 16." 

"Still on that are you? Well, don't worry, they let everybody in. They only check ID if you're drinking. Come on, we'll get Xander and Dawn and Willow if she's up for it, it'll be fun." 

"I don't know." 

"There's a live band…" She singsong-ed.

A man in a uniform cleared his throat and looked up from a digitized clipboard. 

"Are you Clark Kent?" 

"Yes." 

"Sign here please," he said, handing the boy a virtual pen and said clipboard. 

He received a medium sized box and a card. 

Buffy looked over his shoulder. The card read: _Call me, Lex._ And was inked on official _Alexander J. Luthor_** Luthorcorp** paper. 

Buffy's eyes widened. 

Clark opened the box rapidly and found a phone, a charger, and 600 minutes pre-paid long distance. He brightened considerably and immediately started dialing. 

"May I please speak to Lex? It's Clark Kent." 

He stood up to pace around. 

"Thank you." 

"Lex? How are you?" He asked enthusiastically, and then it dawned on him there might be a reason for the gift. "What's happening? Is the plant going to be re-opened? Did something bad happen? How are my parents?" 

_"Wow Clark, slow down! Nothing is wrong with your parents and it's too soon to tell about the plant. I sent you the phone because 1. Your father isn't there to tell you to give it back. 2. You could use it to call your friends. And 3. I missed you. This town just isn't quite the same without your friendly face."_

"I'll be back in August Lex, don't worry." 

_"So, how are you holding up over there?"_

"Well my aunt makes me these horrible lunches." 

_"Sounds great. Anything actually interesting going on?"_

"Their welcome mats say 'do not enter' or 'not another step" or 'stop or I'll shoot'…"

_"Sounds like my kind of place."_

"There's this specialty store that sells them, I already bought you two of them." 

_"Thanks."_

"Still, I like it. I'm working and I'm helping a friend rebuild his friend's magic store." 

_"Really. So you already made friends?"_

"Yeah. His name is Xander, and there's also Buffy and Dawn and Willow." 

_"So what are they like?"_

Clark wasn't sure if Buffy could hear him from where she was seated, and he didn't know if she could read lips, so he bowed his head and whispered, "um. Well, Buffy's sorta standing right here, so…"

_"Say no more… Oh no Clark, I just got a call on my emergency line. Look, call me on my cell next time. Whenever you want, okay?"_

"Okay. Oh and Lex?" 

_"What?"_

"Thanks." 

_"Bye Clark."_

Xander got back with a small ton of wood. He practically dumped it on Buffy when he tripped over a root. She caught it all, and that caught Clark's eye for a moment. 

"Thanks." 

"Whatever, now scram, I'll see you later." 

"Okay," she mumbled through the pile of wood that stacked up to her nose. "I'll see you later guys! And Xander, we're Bronzing it and we won't take no for an answer," she screamed while walking away.


	5. Catching up

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 5_**

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mom, Dad, you're out working, I know, I'll call around bedtime okay? 10 o'clock. Love you!"

Clark ended the phone call and dialed his friend Pete; he was surprised when the line wasn't busy. One of the boy's older brothers answered. 

_"House of way-too-many-people, how can I direct your call?" _

"Can I speak to Pete please? It's Clark." 

_"Yo Petey! Phone. Hurry up!" _

_"Hey." _

"Hey it's me." 

_"Hey man, what's up?" _

"I'm doing okay Pete, what about you?" 

_"I file, I fax, I fetch coffee, I take notes. This just might be the most uneventful summer in the history of me." _

"That sucks." 

_"I'm not getting paid." _

"Ouch!" 

_"Yeah, I get an allowance, but it's like 10 dollars more than I get during the school year. So what are you doing over there?" _

"Working construction." 

_"How's that?" _

"I really like it." 

_"And I bet they're paying you and everything…"_

"Yeah, they are." 

_"How much? Come on, tell me so I can tell my mother." _

"13 dollars an hour." 

_"Oh, ow. My heart." _

"Sorry." 

_"You have all the luck." _

"So, how's everyone else?" 

_"If by everyone you mean Lana and Lex, they're both fine." _

"Pete-"

_"Here's all I know, Lana's being seen around town again but she's not running the Talon. I see Lex driving and talking on his cell phone, I don't know why the man is still here after what he did, but he is. That's all I know and now it's out of the way." _

"Pete-" Clark warned. He didn't want to go there; he needed to change the subject. Luckily, Pete changed it for him.

_"Ask me about my love life." _

"What about your love life?" 

_"It might just be heating up very soon. There's this intern at the courthouse, and mama mia, is she the finest thing I have ever seen. She smiles at me a lot, walks past my desk… She even held the elevator door for me once." He said the last part conspiratorially. _

"What's her name?" 

_"Sara, I think. She digs me, I can tell." _

"Sara; you think." 

_"Ah, yeah. Could be love. So, what about you? Sexy California girl caught your eye yet? I mean, if you can't get together with Chloe, and the girl you've been obsessed with forever doesn't do it for you anymore, that means you're free right?" _

"There are these three girls…"

_"I hate you." _

"No, no, I mean they're good looking and all, but we just hang out." 

_"When can I visit?" _

"Any long weekend." 

_"I'll beg my mom. Were the bus tickets expensive?" _

"I would say they're reasonably priced, but I've been on that ride and I don't know why anyone would knowingly put themselves through that." 

_"I'll see what I can do. Look Clark, there's a line forming behind me to use the phone, and since I want to live to see you again, I got to hang up." _

"Okay. I'll talk to you later." 

_"Bye." _

There was one more phone call to make, one he both wanted, and dreaded to make. He was going to call Chloe Sullivan. He thought he had left things well between them, but he wasn't 100% sure. He had deserted her at the prom to go after Lana, and although he had gotten back to her eventually, she had been deeply hurt. 

It had taken him 5 days to make it up to her. Dinners, pick-nicks, movies, mix tapes, long walks and long talks. Still, she was leaving, very possibly for good, and there was so much left unsaid between them. There were moments when he could swear she knew, and was going to say something. There were moments when he wanted to confess more than anything. They had parted ways with a kiss and a promise to keep in touch. Nothing more, nothing less. 

The receptionist at the Daily Planet startled Clark out of his reverie. 

"Yes? Yes. I mean… Can I please speak to Chloe Sullivan?" 

_"I apologize, to whom do you wish to speak?" _

"Chloe Sullivan, she's interning this summer." 

_"I will page her, hold please." _

Clark hummed along with the classic song while waiting for Chloe to pick up. It took 2 minutes; she sounded out of breath, and very much giddy. 

_"Hello, this is Chloe Sullivan." _

"Chlo! It's me, Clark." 

_"Clark, oh my God, thanks for calling! I got my very first page. It was so cool! My name was blasted over the intercom so loud the people next door could have heard it." _

"Were you running?" 

_"Yeah, everyone was using their phone, it took me forever to find one!" _

"You don't have a phone?" 

_"I don't have a desk, or a phone, or a first name here, actually." _

"And that's a good thing?" 

_"It's a great thing Clark! I run around, meet everyone, I can learn about their jobs... Best of all, every time they send me to get coffee, I can get one for myself." _

"That sounds like you." 

_"I have the biggest ulcer," she confessed. "Oh, you have to get tomorrow's edition if you can okay? I'm going to be listed in four different places. I know no one reads the credits but it is so exciting!" _

"Wow Chloe. That is so great!" 

_"I'll be listed under 'intern' of course, then in two 'additional research by' columns and get this one: I designed a new layout for the Arts and Leisure front page, and they liked it." _

"You're amazing!" 

_"I don't know about that, but I really love it here." _

"I'm so glad." 

_"Perry White said I was spunky, and not in an annoying way!" _

"That's good?" 

_"Yeah, he's a no-nonsense kind of guy, doesn't give out compliments, complains a lot; I love him! So, planning on visiting Metropolis?" _

"Um. I hadn't thought of that… Yeah, I could try to make it… maybe in early August I'll-" He was glad she cut him off because he was about to think aloud that he might be able to rent a hotel room and he didn't want her getting the wrong idea. Not that the idea would be so wrong, it's just that he loved Chloe, and didn't want to hurt her mentally, or physically. 

_"Oh, yes of course this is your desk. I was just hanging up… Urgent call you know. They paged me." _Clark could practically hear her smiling through the phone. She was one tough cookie. She had gone through so much in her young life, and managed to cope quite well. 

"Bye Chlo." 

_"Stay in touch Kent, I mean it!" _

Well, everyone in his life seemed busy. Now all he had to figure out was what in the world people wore to clubs…

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dawn, you're so not whittling!" 

"Am too." 

"No you're not, you've had the same stake for half an hour." Buffy chastised. 

The two Summers were alone in the Magic Box, light music playing in the background. 

"My hands hurt." 

"Than work faster. I want to get this done so we don't have to do this again until Christmas." 

"It's not fair, I'm here blistering and cramping and Willow and Xander didn't have to stay!" 

"That's because Willow wanted to rest and Xander wanted to change into something less sweaty for later." 

"Why? What's going on later, are we all patrolling?" 

"No. We're going out." 

"Oh," she said sadly. 

"So… Anya didn't show up this morning." 

"Nope. I did okay though, I am pretty good at this retail stuff." 

"Better than me I'm sure. It's just I noticed you were alone with Willow until I got here. Are you okay with that?" 

Dawn thought about it, she looked down as she answered, trying to downplay the fact she was clearly still shook up. "I can deal. I miss Tara, I miss Mom, I even miss Spike and Dad and Angel sometimes… She's going to be okay. Have you looked into her eyes? I think she'll be okay," she said resolutely. 

"I believe that too," Buffy said, squeezing her sister's hand. 

Anya appeared out of thin air and walked over to her register. 

"Don't mind me girls, I'm just here for the inventory." 

"I put a list of the items we sold with your mail. There's also a copy of every receipt. We did well today, with Midsummer coming up and all." Dawn smiled at the approval in Anya's eyes. 

"You know, you haven't been a complete failure with money, Dawnie. I'm not going to fire you this week," replied the blonde, looking over the figures. 

"Thanks Anya." 

Buffy and Dawn continued whittling stakes and tossing them in the weapon's chest behind them. 

Anya started washing down the counter and talking to herself… pretty darn loudly. 

"You know I come in here, I've practically been invisible for weeks, I complement Dawn and I don't even get a 'how've you been Anya?'; 'how was work Anya?'; 'that top matches your shoes beautifully Anya; 'tell us about the latest demon gossip… I work and work and work to integrate myself, to-"

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other and tiredly repeated word for word: 

"How've you been Anya? How was work Anya? That top matches you're shoes beautifully Anya! Tell us about the latest demon gossip." 

"I'm glad you asked!" The vengeance demon perked up. She pulled up a chair between them and took a seat. "I've been holding up. Going back to my job has really been hard on me. Xander was brave enough to save the World, but not brave enough to marry me… No one understands! I share my hurt but I believe only fellow women can truly grasp the throbbing, never-ending pain I am in." 

Dawn took her hand while she shed a few tears. 

"I have Advil." Buffy offered. She liked Anya, but she was Xander's friend. She did feel horrible for her, but Buffy had her own stuff to deal with. Anya, of course, just kept on talking…

"I've been working non stop, and it's been really therapeutic. That and catching up on what's going on with what. The other day, I actually heard someone say there was another ensouled vampire running around. Isn't that funny? The things people will say! And you will never guess who has been promoted to Power!" 

"How can we guess Anya; we don't know anybody?" Dawn asked.

"I'm sure you remember her, she was unpleasant," Anya said, wondering why their faces were still blank. "It's Cordelia." 

"WHAT!?!?!?!?!" Both sisters yelled in surprise. 

"I don't get it either. I man I knew **The Powers that Be** had been hoping to fill a few voids for years now but every time they tested someone, that person would fail." 

"So they lowered their standards?" Quipped the slayer. 

"No. She passed all her tests." 

"Are you serious?" 

"As a heart attack. They offered her a way out of her life and into the life she always dreamed and she didn't take it. They made her a demon. They gave her more power than a Hellgod and it didn't faze her at all, she only used it only for good. Isn't that wild? That must mean miracles do happen, don't'cha think? Means there's hope for all of us?" 

"I guess so." Dawn whispered. 

"I will have heard everything," said Buffy; jaw still hanging open. 

"Oh yeah, it's a very big deal, everyone's talking about it."

"They made her a demon?" Buffy shook her head.

"To withstand her visions."

"Why?"

"She was living on borrowed time. She would have died, in fact, I heard that her human doctors considered her a living miracle."

"So they made a demon a Power? And who are these Powers?" 

"When it all started, sides were chosen. The Powers balanced out the First," Anya said, like it all made sense.

"But Cordelia!???"

"She's definitely not the same girl who wished you'd never come to town." 

"What?" Dawn interrupted. 

"The wish that started all this with me. My power source got crushed and I turned human. I thought my life was over." 

"What happened if Buffy never made it here?" 

"Bad things, very bad and nasty things." Anya shuddered, glad that when her power source was broken she hadn't remained in that Wish-verse. 

"Last I saw her she was working for Angel," Buffy said confused, still thinking of the former cheerleading May-Queen with the big mouth. 

"Oh! Buffy? This girl left a message; her name is Fred. She said she works with Angel and that we should call if we ever hear from him or Cordelia." 

"You're not going to hear from Cordelia, that's for sure," Anya said, standing to fix the price tag on a rose quartz necklace. She then continued marking up the merchandise and seemed like she was in a much better mood than when she had arrived. 

Buffy finished the last stake and tossed in in the chest. She and Dawn cleaned up. When they were preparing to leave, Buffy turned to Anya.

"So, we're going to the Bronze with Xander and his friend-"

"He has a friend? He has a FRIEND??" Exclaimed the distressed woman. 

"No, not that kind of friend, a boy friend." 

"A BOYFRIEND?" She shrieked and changed into her demon face. 

"We mean a guy from work, Anya. You can come too," Buffy placated. 

"Wouldn't dream of intruding." They saw the hurt in her eyes and didn't talk her out of it. She turned away from them, put the price gun down and disappeared. Buffy sighed and looked at her sister.

"You can't go out like that Dawn, we're going to have to stop home after our first sweep." 

"Shut. Up." 

"What did I do?" 

"I can go?" 

"Yes, we're all going." 

"I can go to the Bronze when I'm not the prisoner of a leather face demon who wants to make me his queen?" 

"Yes." 

"YES!"


	6. The Bronze

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 6_**

They met at Buffy's house, at 8 o'clock. Xander arrived with Clark and after both Buffy and Dawn changed another time or two, they were on their way. 

Clark was nervous. He was wearing new jeans, a tight white t-shirt and a white dress shirt over top, with shiny black dress shoes. The sisters had looked him over appreciatively, but Xander was wearing a loud, but fun shirt (and a little too much gel in his hair). Clark was left wondering if he would stand out in his plain clothes. 

Dawn and Buffy were both gorgeous and glowing, as per usual. A little bit of shimmery makeup, brightly colored shirts and tight pants with heals gave them a look to turn heads. They headed out as the sun set, talking away about the day. 

Dawn had held her tongue all day. She was picking her moment to tell Buffy about Clark's age, and that moment came when the boys were walking ahead of the girls. Buffy licked her lips and cocked her head to get a better look. Dawn let her get her fill. After Buffy barely dodged a light post and tripped over her own feet, Dawn took her hand to lead her. She whispered in her ear. 

"Earth to Mrs. Robinson…"

"What?" 

"I hate to tell you sis', but that fine specimen you're eyeballing? He really is jailbait," she giggled. 

"Clark?" 

"Duh. We checked." Dawn shared. "He's 16. He's in the same grade I am in school." 

"But look at him!" 

"He's my age, I swear," she said, crossing her heart. "Hey Clark!" Dawn shouted. 

"What is it?" 

"What Math textbook did you have?" 

"It's called THE NEW MATH 314. It's got geometrical shapes on it in reds and pinks. Is that the one you had?" 

"Yes. I hated it! Those stupid robots at the top of every page... I stooped to having a bonfire with that book. What about English?" 

"We never had a textbook, just required reading." 

"Me too!" She smiled enthusiastically. She bumped into Buffy and put her arm around her. She spoke in her sister's ear, teasingly. "Wow. Did you hear that, Buffy? We both had required reading." 

"I heard. So, you think I should go apologize?" 

"Only if you're sorry." 

"I enjoy the view but I never wanted to buy the condo." 

"Huh?" 

"No harm no fowl, you know… God, look at him. I haven't had this much fun just looking at someone since-" Angel , she surely thought.

"Maybe you shouldn't say anything, you might drool on his shoes," Dawn cut her off. 

"That is a distinct possibility," the slayer giggled. 

When they walked into the Bronze, Xander and Clark went to get drinks and seats while Buffy took Dawn upstairs so they could identify the undead. The club was already hopping and the sisters were dismayed to discover at least 12 vampires were working the room. They decided to get drinks with the guys, strategize and leave for the bathroom shortly to devise a plan. Buffy didn't want Dawn thinking she just let people die because she wanted to have some fun. Both could be had. More if they could get the place cleared of all of them. 

They waved to Xander and Clark, who were trying to take as much space as possible on the couch so the sisters could join them… While still being polite to the ladies that came up asking for them **and** looking cool. 

"So what do you think?" 

"I like it. I wish we had a place like this in Smallville." 

"Yeah." Xander agreed, his stomach turning when he saw a vampire lick a very young girl's throat shamelessly. "The idea is great. The setting is great, the ambiance is great, and the fact that even Willow and I could hang here in our most *dorkish* hour... I'll be forever grateful. Some of the patrons you have to watch out for though." 

"Gangs?" 

"Yeah. Gangs." Xander replied, gritting his teeth at the display. He saw the 'couple' head for the back entrance and told Clark to wait for a moment. He made like he was in a hurry to get out, muttering excuses. He got behind them, moved them along to the door, pushed them apart to get through and staked the unsuspecting vampire before they were completely outside. He told the girl to get back inside, put the stake in his pocket and went to sit down. He was getting less and less patient with those kinds of things. He used the sneak attack in public places more and more. He felt like Buffy sort of liked the fighting, and that's why she did, but it was easy to thin the heard of the younger vampires without engaging them at all. They didn't sense an attack coming because humans were all around and they were hungry. 

When he got back to the couch, three girls were fawning over Clark, not getting the message that he didn't want them there. 

"Excuse me ladies," he said, "but you're in my seat." 

To his dismay, they scooted over closer to Clark and let him have the edge of the couch. The girl closest to him seemed to like what she saw and started flirting timidly. 

Buffy and Dawn arrived shortly with their sodas. Buffy was amused at Clark's blush, but Dawn seemed less than thrilled. She cleared her throat. 

One of the girls looked up and frowned. 

"What?" 

"Tania, you're in my seat." Dawn explained to the girl nearest Clark.

"Finders keepers," the blonde said, "aren't you a little young to be here anyway?" She asked, getting ridiculously close to Clark, who was trying to get away without being mean. 

"We're in the same class," Dawn replied annoyed. 

Clark was about to say something when Buffy interrupted. 

"Seriously girls, I think you'd better move along," she laughed. "Or we'll have to take our men and get a table. 

"Only if they want to go with you. Anyway, the place is packed; no way you'll find anything." 

"You're right," Dawn replied mischievously. She looked at Buffy: "I guess we'll just have to find someplace else to sit." 

First Dawn and then Buffy, advanced on Clark and Xander and sat on their respective laps, putting their arms around them. Buffy and Xander smiled brightly at the others, while Dawn touched foreheads with Clark lovingly, called him 'baby' and kissed his nose. Clark blushed… AGAIN… but kept everything under control. After holding their poses for what seemed like longer but was actually another minute, the ignored irate girls left in a huff. 

They group laughed and spread out on the couch. Buffy talked to Xander about the undead population and they kept an eye on both exits, ready to go. 

Clark sipped his drink and exchanged nervous smiles with Dawn every once in awhile.

"What is it?" The girl finally asked.

"What?" 

"You look like you have something to say. What is it?" 

"Well, you see Dawn, I like you, but I don't like you, like you. I could, I just can't and I don't know…"

"Oh. Is that it?" 

"Well yes. I thought, maybe you had a crush on me or something, and I don't want to hurt you, but I've got- well you see back home-."

"Look Clark," she leaned in, "I like you. Maybe I even like you like you. I mean who doesn't? Even Buffy's got a crush-"

"That's really flattering Dawn but-"

"Let me talk. I've got a lot of things to deal with, a lot of things going on in my life that no one but me can understand. I think you're cute. I like you. I like the way you get embarrassed. I like the way you talk to me. I'd like to dance with you later. That's where it ends. You're safe with me, okay? You don't have to wig because I giggle and do a little flirting-"

"Okay." Clark smiled, looking relieved. 

On the other hand, Dawn looked slightly queasy. She turned to her sister.

"Buffy, I have to go to the ladies room." 

"M'right behind you." 

Xander and Clark watched the girls walk away. 

"Women," Xander said. 

"Yeah. What do you think they do in there anyway?" 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**BATHROOM**

"Oh my God, I'm going to barf." 

"What happened?" 

Dawn splashed her face with cold water and got a hand towel to blot it off. 

"Clark told me he was involved back home and I told him I liked him but I wouldn't try and jump him or something. Oh my God Buffy this is so embarrassing! I kept talking and talking and- I don't even know if I made sense! Was I even speaking English?" 

"Dawn, take a deep breath. You talked for like, 18 seconds. It's okay. Clark's cool." 

"Right." She said, breathing in and out and gathering herself. A few minutes later, when they were alone again, Buffy changed the subject. 

"So Xander and I decided to go for the back alley as usual, unless they leave through the front. Then we can still push them into an alley and out of sight. You and Xander get as many as you can in corners or right out the door and I'll get the ones who want a fight. Stay casual." 

"I will." 

"We'll each go off discretely but someone has to stay with Clark at all times." 

"Gotcha." 

"So, did you need to go?" 

"No, did you?" 

"No. Do you have lip gloss?" 

The girls got back and sat down. Something started beeping loudly. They looked around, and Clark finally realized it was the timer he had set on his phone to remind him to call his parents. He excused himself, saying he needed to find a corner to call in. After a few failed attempts he discreetly found his way to the back door and outside. He dialed the house. 

"Hi mom! How are you?" 

"I'm fine. How's dad?" 

"I'm at an all ages club with a co-worker and some friends. I like it here. Thanks for making me come." 

Buffy and co. missed the vampire coming out the back door because two of them left through the front door with the three girls from Dawn's class. Buffy and Dawn went into action and Xander held down the fort… or the couch. Anyhoo. He stayed behind. 

"Aw. So tell me about what's been going on." 

Clark felt a presence behind him and turned around. A snickering man with an 80's hair cut and a little too much eye makeup got a little too close to him. The mullet cracked his knuckles. 

Clark kept listening to his mother and told the man to wait by putting up a finger. 

"And what about the farmer's market?" He asked her. 

The vampire came up behind him, jumped on his back and tried to choke and bite him. 

Clark was annoyed. He couldn't hear his mother properly, so he crouched down and jerked up sending the vamp flying. He heard the man fall with a thud, get up and start running. 

He hardly talked to his mother since he had been in California and he was damned if he was going to cut her off and worry her because some drunk wanted to fight. 

The two vampires, who put their game faces on and growled, instantly recognized the sisters. They disentangled from the girls easily, ready for a fight. When the high-schoolers had scampered off back to the Bronze, they let themselves be maneuvered into and alley. 

They managed not to get too much dust on their shoes. 

"Yeah, they're doing good. And Pete might come visit. And I might visit Chloe." 

"I talked to Lex. He seemed okay I think. Still the town pariah?" 

"Oh. That's just not fair. Hey, did you know he has a poster? I mean did you know he was, like, on magazines and women-"

"REALLY?" 

There came two more vampires running for Clark around the corner. He held one off with his one hand, kicked the others, and then had to tell his mother to hold on for a moment. 

One by one he sent them flying as far as he could and got back to his conversation. 

"So I should call dad tomorrow?" 

"No. No. Nothing strange going on here. Yeah, it's great to get away from it all." 

"Love you too!" 

"Bye." 

Buffy and Dawn were surprised (to say the least), when one vampire landed behind them and ran away, and two others landed in front of them as they headed back to the club. 

The girls looked at the sky a moment longer to make sure they wouldn't get clobbered and then dusted the stunned duo. 

They apprehensively walked around to the back alley. 

Clark had gotten through to Chloe on her cell phone. 

"It's me. Do you think you could do me a favor?" 

"The town I'm in, Sunnydale… It's a little intense. In a nutshell, my friends teach each other martial arts, and patrol the streets and don't want me to go out after dark and I've been attacked a couple of times now." 

"No, I'm fine, it's just weird. They were weird." 

"What was weird?" Interrupted Buffy, rounding the corner with Dawn. 

"The mushrooms I ate last night." The mushrooms I ate last night? 

"Chloe. Call me anytime okay? Bye." 

"And what are you doing out here all alone?" 

"I couldn't hear inside." 

"You should have asked Xander to come with you." 

"Hey, I can take care of myself," he protested as they ushered him through the doors. 

Xander had dusted three vampires inside, and only two remained. Buffy walked up to where they were playing pool and got their attention by coughing. 

When they looked up she smiled brightly and said sweetly: "Hi, I'm the slayer and I'm going to kill you. It's just that right now I want to have some fun with my friends, so either we do this now or we give each other a meeting time-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence. They had run away. It happened sometimes. 

The group danced. Buffy let Dawn have a sip of Xander's beer. They laughed at the face she made. Clark and Xander played a game of pool themselves, but the older man noticed it made Clark appear wistful. They switched to darts, and soon enough the night was coming to an end. 

Dawn got Clark to slow dance before leaving as Xander and Buffy talked comfortably on the couch. Then as they walked out they all made plans to meet at the Magic Box the next afternoon and put Clark in a cab. They were too distracted to see the runaway vampire was spying on them from the roof.


	7. Ring around the rosy

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 7_**

**THE MAGIC BOX**, early afternoon. 

"And where, pray tell, were you this morning? I called the house on my break and I got no answer," Buffy asked, walking in from her early shift at the DoubleMeat palace. 

"I went to Clem's," answered her younger sister, already at work organizing and dusting. 

"Dawn, I know he's nice, but I told you not to visit cemeteries alone, even when it's daytime. You need to make new friends. Human friends," she insisted. 

"I have human friends, I just don't like them very much. Anyway, he said to keep an eye out. He heard vampires are mobilizing." 

"Against what?" 

"Well, last night word spread that there's this robot walking around only this other vamp is saying the guy's a person, but he's like impervious, or invincible or something." 

"Vampires are so dramatic. Which one was it?" 

"He wasn't sure, we were just making small talk." 

"What should we do?" Asked the slayer, pulling up a chair. 

"Call Giles?" 

"Vampires are scared of someone who is way too strong?" 

"It's what he said," replied the younger, shrugging. 

"Like a God?" Buffy whispered.

Dawn's face blanched, but she didn't miss a beat. "When I asked him what's going on, that's what he answered: vampires are mobilizing," she insisted, polishing the cash register. 

"Damn! Why did you have to go over there? Now it's going to bother me all day," she whined. 

"I'm sorry, Buffy He borrowed my 'Get over it', 'Bring it on' and 'Crazy/Beautiful' tapes. I had to get them back sooner or later." Dawn said. She knew Buffy wasn't mad and that she just didn't like being out of the loop.

"So, Clem has a thing for Kirsten Dunst, huh?" 

"I don't know. He said he doesn't like tight skin, but maybe she's the exception. Anyway, he had my Harry Potter books and I wanted to read Azkaban again." 

"Wait a minute! Did you say 'Bring it on'????" Questioned the slayer, looking shocked. 

Dawn wasn't fazed. "She's not Faith, Buffy. And it's a funny movie." 

"First of all: Cheerleading?" 

"Hey, you were a cheerleader!" She reminded her sister. 

"Back when I hadn't discovered what my brain cells were for!" 

"It's almost a parody and I like it," Dawn stated, while removing the jewelry from the display case to clean them off. 

"Dawn, Glory kidnapped you. She used you to open a portal and I died." 

"I know," she replied curtly. 

"Then why the hell would you want to watch a movie with a Glory clone in it?" 

"She's funny. She calls this little girl and 'evil hure' 'cause she can't pronounce 'hore'. And her hair is not nearly as nice as Glory's was," Dawn answered lamely. "Anyway, I bought it before and I hadn't thought about it so…"

"Are we having this conversation?" Buffy asked, finally getting the message that this was not something they should be talking about. 

"No. Forget it. I'll throw it away. I just like Jesse Bradford okay?" 

"Okay." 

Buffy tied a handkerchief in her hair and rolled up her sleeves. The reparations to the store were now done, thanks to team 'sweet buns', as she had once called them. All they needed to do now was to paint the new wall and ceiling, get everything clean and the displaced merchandise back on the new shelves. Also the books had to go back into their respective sections (alphabetized), and then they'd have to incorporate the last two weeks shipments, still boxed up in storage. Oh, and do a quick inventory. And clean out the basement… 

At least help was on the way. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark was walking to the Magic Box, a little earlier than he had expected. His aunt and uncle were spending the day at home, and he was a little uncomfortable staying there. The thought appealed to him even less if they wanted him to eat with them. He stopped by the store to buy a pint of cold milk, and hoped Buffy had brought back a sufficient amount of DoubleMeat's burgers and fries. He was really beginning to dig those. 

His phone rang an obnoxious song and he answered. 

"Hello." 

"Hi Chloe, got the 'Planet' this morning: Very impressive." 

"Really, so have you got something?" 

"That many?" 

"The murder capital of the WORLD? You've got to be joking!" 

"Unexplained occurrences, like Smallville unexplained or-"

"What's ''exsanguination''?" 

"Oh. Right. So how in the heck would that happen?" 

"Did you just say vampires? Oh, come on, there's got to be a more logical explanation than that…" 

"I'll look around, call you if I find anything." 

"Great! Bye." Clark was smiling. Only his friend Chloe would think of something like vampires and other supernatural phenomena as the most plausible explanation. She had been so excited at all she found; Clark was afraid she would want to move to Sunnydale to investigate. 

So he thought, and thought and thought on his long walk. Vampires, hihi, vampires, exsanguinations, people paranoid about the night, way too many cemeteries and churches, those welcome mats that say 'Stay Out', that ugly guy saying he was hungry when I saved that girl Toni… 

He looked around as he walked. The place looked so peaceful, so quaint in the light of day. He didn't see any street gangs, yet they were supposedly a constant threat. Why would they only come out at night? He almost passed the Magic Box. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Clark! You're early," said the older Summers as he walked in. "Are you hungry?" 

"I am," Clark replied in stereo. 

Willow was standing behind him with his boss, who was always in the mood for food. They all sat down at the table to eat and discuss what needed to be done. 

The phone rang halfway though their meal and Willow, who wasn't eating, picked it up. She brightened. "It's Giles!" She told everyone. 

Xander leaned over to Clark to explain. 

"Giles was our High School librarian. He also owns this place. He lives in England now." 

"Okay," Clark said, not entirely comprehending the fuss the girls were making to get the phone. 

"All of us are sort of orphans. He's been our dad… Well, mentor anyway," Xander clarified. 

Clark was saddened by the idea his friends didn't have parents to lean on. He was so incredibly blessed in that aspect. He didn't know what to say to Xander so he kept on eating his fries. 

Willow was at the other end of the room, practically whispering, but Clark could hear her crystal clearly. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he couldn't control his hearing that well yet, especially in a silent room. 

"I swear I'm alright." 

"No, Giles, we've got it under control. We put bandages and cream on them during the day and we ice them after it happens. I'm kind of grateful for a little pain. Reminds me where I am." 

"Giles, please don't be concerned. I owe my life to you and Xander. The world is still here. Sometimes I still wish it would just go away, but then I remember Tara, and Jesse and Joyce. And I remember you and Xander and Buffy and Dawn." 

"No, I'm sorry. I don't want to sound redundant, because we talk every day, but Gods Giles. What I did to you, and Xander and Buffy… and Dawnie, what I wanted to do to her…" 

"I will never forget," she promised solemnly, whipping her tears. 

"I love you too." 

"Thank you for that." 

Willow walked over to the table shakily, handed the phone to Dawn and sat on Xander, hugging him, and sobbing quietly in his neck. 

Clark was perplexed, but he was more curious then ever. 

Dawn got up, moving away from the sight of Willow. 

"It's Dawn." 

"I've got summer school in a week, but other than that, I'm okay." 

"I'm getting better with it, but I can hit a target 30 feet away with a crossbow. And I really like the sword you gave me." 

"I know. I know. I've got cramps in my arms from making stakes yesterday. We got 500 made, give or take, should last us a while." 

"So do you miss us?" 

"Good." 

"Yeah, I like helping Buffy. Hey, did you know Anya's letting me work here?" 

"I'm not growing up fast enough, if you ask me!" 

"If we win the lottery, can we come visit you?" 

"Cool," she smiled, walking up behind Buffy. 

"Here's Buffy. Bye!" 

Buffy herself got up and walked off, leaving Clark feeling bad for being in the way. He felt even worse that he could hear everything. 

"I manage." 

"She's getting good fast, you know. Really. She reminds me of me at that age." 

"I don't know. They made her out of me, Giles. We have the same blood. Do you think that means that she's kind of a slayer too?" 

"Okay, but don't attract any attention. I don't want the council snooping around us again. Ever." 

"I'll check her healing time, should have done that awhile ago. Her strength too."

"Really? Is she cute?" 

"Hey, I just want everyone to be happy. Now that your brood of misfit teens is out of their teens, maybe you could fall in love, get married and have a bunch of babies… If not her, I'm sure some woman would take pity on you; I mean, you're not completely icky," she teased. 

"I miss you too... except I actually mean it." 

"We're finishing it up right now. We've got a lot to do, though." 

"Hey, keep an ear out for Sunnydale gossip. We're hearing rumblings of something going down, but nothing concrete." 

"You heard that too? Do you think it's true?" 

"Anya told us too. She also said…"

"Yeah, isn't that weird? Cordelia of all people! How did you know?" 

"I'm so jealous. Anya can visit you anytime she wants! Why can't slayers teleport?!" 

"Okay, I'll tell her to call first next time!" She laughed. "No, she's not here; she hasn't been here all that much lately, but Xander's here." 

She passed the phone. 

"G-Man!" He laughed. "I just wanted to say hi, and we're taking good care of each other." 

"Yeah, I'm here with my friend Clark, he's helping." 

"Okay, everyone sends their love. Bye." He hung up. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**THE MAGIC BOX,** sunset.

Everyone was sweaty and grubby; they were all coughing. Well, everyone except Clark of course. Clark Kent felt like he had entered the twilight zone. A place where everyone knew something he didn't. _A place where he wasn't in on it. _

The painting was done, and they were dusting. As they went about cleaning and laughing and talking, Clark took in his surroundings. For the first time after working there for weeks he paid real attention. He was in a magic shop. 

At first glance he had only seen the incense, the candles, the crystal balls, the Celtic and gothic looking jewelry. He had taken in the brightly colored Wicca books, and then the general pagan and the spirituality books. He had seen the Tarot section and the rune section and the Fairy posters. He had smiled at the bumper stickers that said things like "My Goddess gave birth to your God." Now, he was seeing something completely different. 

First of all, they were selling bottled Holy water. Then there were the old spell books written in languages he had never seen. Also present were demonology books, diaries and there was a restricted section that not only housed books but a lot of unconventional weapons. 

He knew he didn't know everything about his new friends. But he now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was more to them than meets the eye. Actually, he really didn't know everything about his old friends either, and no one knew even close to everything about him… 

Xander was boxing up a pile of dark old musty books; the same books that had been sitting there since before his first visit. The books were curiously blank and everyone avoided mentioning or touching them. Xander looked deep in though. Hesitant even. 

Willow was no longer working, she just watched him nervously. Buffy and Dawn looked like they didn't know what to do. 

Clark didn't know what to do. What would you do? 

Ask about it? Try and get them to open up? Pretend like you knew more than you did? 

For an alien from Smallville, it could never that simple. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark walked over to wash the storefront window. 

_What did he really know, and who was he to say anything about anything?_ he mused. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of light. Everyone jumped a little, and then he heard another woman's voice: "Wow, I didn't expect you would be finished." 

"That's cause we're not, An," replied Xander. 

"Well, I'd love to help but I just came here to… to count the money. Yes that's it. Right," she said with fake, nervous cheer, as she teleported behind the counter. 

Clark heard Willow, Buffy and Dawn trying to say something, but Xander cut them off. 

"Have you been avoiding me?" 

"Yes." 

"Oh; why?" 

"Because Xander. Just… I… no. I'm fine, I'm happy. I'm working two jobs… Everything's fine. Is there a reason I would be avoiding you?" 

The former couple looked at each other for a long time. 

Clark could feel Buffy's eyes boring into him as well so he doubled his efforts on the window, trying to look busy. 

Dawn spoke up: "You haven't met our friend Clark." 

Unfortunately, Anya had said: "Did you know there was a gang of vampires outside?" more loudly. 

When Xander and the Summers sisters shushed the new arrival, she shrugged nonchalantly: 

"What? It's not like he's human."


	8. The Reveal

**The STRANGER SUMMER**

**_Chapter 8_**

**BY:**Ann of Midnight

**DISCLAIMER:**Once again: Smallville or Buffy are **so** not mine.

. 

"He's not human?" repeated Dawn, awestruck. 

Xander merely said: "What?" 

RUN! RUN! You have to run! Clark told himself. He was paralyzed, facing the window, Windex and rag in hand. 

Maybe if he moved really slowly and looked perplexed… But how did she know? And who was she? And vampires... really? 

He bent down at a snail's pace, putting the product on the floor. He put his hands in surrender position, rose up and turned around. 

Everyone's jaw had dropped. He locked eyes with the blond woman that had just outed him; he was not at all prepared for what happened next. 

First, her eyes widened. Then, she looked like she recognized him. She evan looked like she liked him… 

"Oh my God. Oh my God it's you!" She screamed, clapping her hands. She practically jumped the counter to HUG HIM. 

Clark was at a loss for words. He was at a loss for movement. He got hugged tightly even as his enthusiastic attacker jumped up and down. 

"HI!" She said, "let me get a look at you." 

She released him, looked him over and shook her head. She repeated "Oh my God," and gave him another hug. 

She took his hands and dragged him over to the table. 

He wasn't sure how he even got there, but soon she had him sitting across from her. She was still holding his hands. 

"You have to tell me everything! Are your parents with you?" 

Clark shook his head 'no'. 

"How are you? Did everyone survive? Where have you been living? Are you just visiting or is this home?" 

"I-I-I-" Clark stuttered, looking around frantically for a way out, for someone to explain. He pleaded with his eyes for Xander's help. 

"I'm sorry. Do you not know who I am?" The woman asked. 

Clark shook his head 'no'. 

"I'm Anyanka," she said, clearly thinking it would ring a bell. 

"What?" 

"My name is Anyanka." When that didn't help any, she elaborated. "The vengeance demon? You know… I met your father about 100 years ago… Come on, you know the story," she smiled and nodded. 

Clark could honestly say that he didn't. 

Anya explained to the whole class. "So, I get called upon to reap your standard vengeance on this man by this woman. Nothing like today, but the screening system was working pretty well back then. Still, this time the woman was really off balance; she was a total nutcase. She had imagined the relationship and, let's just say, it was a big mistake… anyway, so I go meet Jor and I'm like 'your crimes against so and so bla bla bla' and then I try to skin him, right?" She explained with a smile. 

Everyone in the room winced, Willow full out flinched. 

"I mean, you could imagine, I just could not do my job! So I hit him with axes and knives and arrows, shot him with a canon, poisoned him, tried to drown him and dowsed him with acid…" It was so funny! You should have seen us, just staring at each other, like, 'what's going on with this?'" She happily recalled. "Long story short, he invited me for drinks, flew me to this amazing restaurant and we just talked and talked and talked. Oh, I remember everything about that night," she sighed happily. "He was just wonderful," she stated, squeezing Clark's hands. "He was so good looking and he had such a thirst for knowledge of all things. He had visited so many worlds and he had the most wonderful stories! He certainly thought my job was strange, but our planet is so far behind Krypton… He respected me, regardless. He was an assistant prosecutor already by then, but he hadn't 'married' your mom or anything... You look so much like him! Bet you're tired of hearing that though, huh?" 

Clark wanted to retch for the first time in his life. Could she really be talking about his father? His biological father? Could he dare hope? 

His senses were on complete overload. He must have looked terrible, because both Dawn and Xander came by his side. 

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" 

Clark couldn't answer. He just looked from Dawn to Anya and back again. Xander made the blonde look at him. 

"I don't think he has the faintest idea what you're talking about, An." 

Anya stared at Clark: "You're little Kal-El; are you not? Son of Jor-El and Lara from the planet Krypton?" 

Clark, who suddenly suffered from dry mouth, said shakily: "I'm just Clark Kent, from Kansas." 

"What?" Questioned the demon. "You're an alien. You have to be, you feel different. Not to mention the fact that you have your mother's eyes and you're practically a replica of your father when we first met. Come on, you expect me to believe a mere mortal could have that bone structure?" 

Clark couldn't answer. 

Buffy had gotten a crossbow out of the weapons chest and had pointed it at Clark's back. 

Anya finally looked up at her and said "Go ahead Buffy, give it your best shot." 

Buffy aimed for his upper shoulder and let her rip. The arrow bounced clear off him and Clark looked as if he hadn't felt anything. He hadn't even turned around. 

"Now we know who it is the vamps are scared of," she told Dawn. 

"Clark, have you been fighting vampires?" The younger Summers asked, concerned. 

Clark was just so numb by now, he answered: "Got attacked a few times, didn't know." 

"Oh, right, vampires. There's a whole gang outside," Anya reminded them. "Should we…"

"Clark being in the window must have spooked them a little," Buffy surmised. 

"Go fight or take care of this?" Xander asked, gesturing between Clark and Anya. 

"We could get it over with, I guess," Dawn shrugged. She got herself a sword and a stake. She passed stakes to Willow and Xander. "Let's go." Dawn said, holding the door open for everyone.

Anya was looking expectantly at Clark, but he said nothing. 

"Is he really impervious?" Buffy asked Anya. 

"Of course, and he can fly too." 

"No." Clark's head snapped up. "I can't fly." 

Anya half smiled indulgently, "that's strange." 

"Clark?" enquired Xander. "Clark?" He asked again. "Do you know how to kill a vampire?" 

"Kill?" 

"Yes, see we're going to have to go fight now. Since they seem to want you, it might be better if you came. Take this," he handed him a stake. "You have to put this through their hearts, or separate their heads from their bodies, okay?" 

Clark nodded. 

"So, are we going?" Dawn asked, having let the door close. She was now making warm up movements with her sword. 

"You're not coming?" Xander asked Anya. 

"I'll be there. I'll go get us a first aid kit, before I come out. No need to get blood all over my store." 

Xander nodded as she disappeared. They all started for the exit. They got to the door before Xander realized Clark had stayed behind. 

Clark stared at the empty chair in front of him. Xander bent down to his level. 

"Are you okay?" 

"No." 

"Don't worry, she's coming back. You'll get your answers." 

Clark slowly rose and looked at the stake in his hand. 

"Stake though the heart, they turn to dust. Aim for the middle of their chest. It's easier to get it in that way and you still hit your target." 

"Okay, Clark responded, looking slightly more alive. They headed out. 

At first everyone just sort of stared at each other. Buffy hadn't seen that many vampires in one place in a long time and she was glad she had people to help. There were 35, maybe 40 of them staring at the Scooby's group. One of the vampires pointed to Clark. 

Buffy advanced, clearly about to speak. 

Willow threw herself on Dawn and shouted to get down when a gun was pulled. Everyone but the alien hit the ground. A few bullets hit Clark and that woke him up. He advanced on the group with his powers and before any of them knew it, the gun was a heap of scrap metal in the teenager's hand. 

The vampires hesitated, that is, until the humans stood back up. Willow coldly said: 'charge' as her eyes got darker and an electric charge flew from her hands to crack the pavement below. 

All hell broke loose around Clark. 

Willow, Xander, Buffy and Dawn jumped in the fray, and were soon surrounded buy small groups of vampires. The humans worked off each other well, Clark noted. Still, he didn't move. It was all too surreal. He felt like he was watching in slow motion. 

As he scanned his surroundings he saw more than one vampire turn to dust. Buffy and Dawn were back to back and Xander and Willow worked in tandem. It was almost graceful, the way they fought. When he focused, he finally saw the vampire visage clearly. They seemed unreal, like out of a movie or a comic book, all ridges and fangs and glowing eyes. 

He heard a piercing scream and saw Dawn go down, a deep cut on her upper arm. Her sword had been taken away from her. Buffy redoubled her efforts and took the weapon back from the man, cutting his head clean off. Dawn coughed when his dust covered her. Buffy gave her a hand up, and they valiantly fought on. 

In the next few seconds, it was Willow who went down with a thud, having been dealt a powerful blow to the face. She looked to her attacker with black eyes for a moment, and then shook her head; Clark thought he might have imagined it. When Xander tripped and went down next to her, she wailed just like she had the night he had heard her across town, and grabbed the vampire's legs. Electricity bolts shot out and he convulsed in pain. Xander quickly got up and put him out of his misery. Willow, however, was very weak and didn't look like she could get up, the middle of her hands were swollen, bubbly and more black, blue and red then pink. 

He locked eyes with Buffy. "We can't fight them all but we should contain them. Bad move to let them walk away," she shouted to him while doing an impressive sweeping move, blocking another vamp's blows and dispatching them both. 

Clark ran next door, where a long water drainage pipe ran along the side of the building. He pulled it off easily and was back in seconds. "Get them all together," he asked the others. 

Willow was crawling to the Magic Box door, Anya was now back and clumsily hitting vampires over the head with an axe, while Xander, Dawn and Buffy did as Clark requested. Soon enough the dozen remaining vampires were held together by a metal pipe and everyone was panting. 

"So what do we do now?" He asked, as the vampires growled and hissed. 

"We have to kill them," Buffy said, holding up the sword. 

Clark felt bad about the dispatching of helpless adversaries, but he trusted the group to deal. 

"I'm heading in," Xander said, helping Anya carry Willow. Dawn was hesitant, and Clark was glad when Buffy sent her away. 

Buffy finished fast so as to not let any of them escape. She clapped away the dust on her hands and Clark opened the door for her. She thanked him absentmindedly, wiping her brow with her arm. 

"Are you okay?" He asked her. "It's my job," she replied, getting a Kleenex to stop her nose bleed. 

Inside, Anya was busy bandaging and icing Willow. Dawn was holding a blood-soaked towelette to her arm and checking herself for more bumps and bruises. Anya came to check on her, bringing bandages and rubbing alcohol. 

Clark remembered what that felt like, when he got to be human. He would be eternally grateful for that because he could never have understood what it was really like if he hadn't lived it. 

Xander held ice up to Willow's eye, but stared at Anya. Willow was resting on her back on a bench, looking sick. 

Clark could see Xander had blood running down his leg but he didn't seem to notice. Buffy patched herself up quickly and went to help her sister. Clark found a mirror and lifted his shirt. He un-wedged the bullets from his chest and put them in his pocket. He absentmindedly poked at the already fading welts on his chest wondering why there was hardly any pain. 

He didn't know what to say or do. He didn't know how to make things better. He didn't know if he needed to. 

Willow's tears ran silently down her face as Xander wiped them away. Clark walked over to them and inquired about the redhead. 

"She'll be fine. She's a trooper, right Wills?"

Willow looked away.

Clark spoke up: "It's my fault. I'm sorry. I could have taken care of them and instead I just stood there and let you all get hurt." 

Dawn spoke up first. "But you didn't know. Besides, we do this all the time," she reassured him bravely, although she was panting and bleeding profusely. 

"Well I could have- I." 

Buffy passed him and tapped him awkwardly on the back "It's my job to keep them safe, not yours. You didn't do anything wrong. Except maybe lie to us. Not that we were very straightforward with you." 

Clark walked over to Anya and stared her in the eye. 

"You really know who I am?" 

"Of course, don't you?" 

"No. I don't." 

"What happened?" Anya asked, leaning towards him and squinting. 

Xander turned to Clark, Willow in his arms. "Clark, come by after, okay? You can have the guestroom, we need to talk." Clark nodded. 

"Buffy, I'll stop by the ER and get Dawn's arm sewn up and then bring her home, is that okay?" 

"That's great Xander, thanks." She said, passing to kiss him on the cheek. 

Dawn looked like she wanted to stay, but the cut was deep and she was getting very pale. She made Buffy promise to fill her in, said goodbye to Clark and was out the door with the other two. 

Buffy cleared the table, sat, put her feet up and waited for Anya and Clark to sit down. "Well, start talking." 

At this point, Clark didn't hesitate in spilling his secret, he wanted to know about his family. 

"I learned last year that I wasn't from this planet. See, in 1989, a huge meteor shower hit Smallville, Kansas. I was in it."

"What do you mean?"

"In some kind of pod." 

"But, where are Jor-El and Lara?" 

"I don't know. I was alone. My parents, my human parents, found me and decided to keep me. They weren't sure, but they thought I looked three. I guess they finagled an adoption." 

"So, you've been living in Kansas? Why? Why would you do that?" Anya asked, a little distressed. 

"I live there because my parents are there. Besides, I like it." 

"Really?" 

"Anya, one day it will be nice to hear why you're afraid of the state of Kansas, but right now, I want to hear Clark's story." 

"That's it really." 

"That's it?" 

"Well, I always had special powers. I was strong. Really, really strong. I couldn't really play with other kids. I still can't. I can see through things when I need to, like ex-ray vision. I can run fast, I can jump high and I can get shot," he said, absentmindedly poking through a hole in his shirt. "I don't get injured, is what I mean. I have super smell and hearing now too. I can't control either of those very well though," he said, blushing. 

Buffy turned red, thinking of everything he might have heard. 

"You can't fly?" 

"No, not at all." 

"I don't understand? I thought the earth's yellow sun gave you all your abilities, the best one by far being the power of flight?" 

"I hover. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I'm hovering," he supplied lamely. 

"Oh, well, they could come gradually, as you grow. Your father was about 6'4 so you might not be done yet. As you can see I'm tiny and I always wondered what it would be like to be built like a refrigerator." 

"What?" 

"Like your dad. And your mother was quite the tall one as well. Didn't like me much though, you can imagine. Can I touch you?" 

"So I don't understand. What do you know about my parents and where I came from?" 

"A lot, I guess. What do you want to know?" 

"Everything you can remember." 

"Your father was extremely intelligent. He was a prosecutor on his home planet of Krypton. That's a K-R-Y. He traveled a lot, using different devises and speeds to go back and forth through time. Having already learned about other worlds, he wanted to see for himself. He had light hair and blue eyes. You've got hazel eyes, like your mother. She had red hair. She was older. I know this because when they got 'married' they traveled some worlds together and made their way here. You couldn't have had a safer planet for them. It's the atmosphere; it's the sun. On Krypton, you would have been bound by the same limitations humans have on earth." 

"Do you know why they sent me here? How they did?" 

"Your father visited me again for a very brief period. He had calculated Krypton was in grave danger and was doubly worried because Lara had just given birth to you. He named you Kal-El, did you know that?" 

"No." He took a moment to digest his true name. "Okay, so what I don't understand; if I was so young, how is it that I was three when I got here? Did the voyage take that long?" 

"No. Half a day; at best. Jor told me their energy was in crystals, that they could store an infinite amount of knowledge or energy into them. You should check your ship. He also said that the ships or pods or crystal balls could be programmed. They could play with the fabric of time. Perhaps they thought you had a better chance had you arrived a toddler. That outside the ship, only thousands of years passed, but inside, it was three or four years." 

"But if you met my father 100 years ago?" 

"Lara was pregnant with you 25 years ago, in my book. Time on Krypton did not move as it did on Earth. Not to mention they moved around alot, and I may or may not have been accurate in my time keeping," Anya explained. She touched his face, fascinated by it's softness, then poked at it, feeling it's density.

"Your name is Anyanka?" Clark asked, uncomfortable.

"Yes." 

"Do you think you could write this all down for me? Everything you can remember? Even the most insignificant details." 

"Well, I have work…" She said uncertainly. "It's nice of you to ask, though and you're very yummy to look at, as your father was, but I have a full plate right now," Anya gave what she thought was an Anya-like answer. It was a little unsettling to be the only link between this boy and his parents and she felt bad she hadn't filled Xander in on her time with Jor. 

"I can pay you." 

"I don't really need money anymore," she said unsteadily. 

Buffy, who both had forgotten, chuckled. "I never thought I'd hear you say that." 

"Yes, well, if that would be all," Anya stood up, knelt down next to Clark and caressed his face. She looked deep in his eyes and told him, sincerely. "I'm glad you're alive Kal-El"

Clark, desperate for her to agree to help, blurted out: "I know Lex Luthor." 

"Don't lie." She jumped. 

"Lex Luthor. He's my friend," Clark repeated. 

"How good of a friend?" 

"My best friend." 

Buffy said: "It's true, got him the nifty cell phone he' sporting." 

Anya took a seat in front of Clark again. "Tell me everything about him."


	9. Transition

**_The Stranger Summer_**__

**_Chapter 9_**

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark stared at his reflection with a new kind of curiosity. He didn't have to wonder if he looked like his parents anymore, this time he knew he did. Someone had actually recognized him on sight! He tried to imagine himself a little taller, with blue eyes and an older look.

The fact that all he could learn about his parents were secondhand tales from a self-professed vengeance demon didn't dim his joy at finding something he never thought he would get: Information. Maybe she could even have someone draw him a picture!

He didn't want to linger on the fact that his birth parents had surely died, or that it seemed that Anya had had some sort of fling with his father. He felt such joy; he wanted to share the moment with the world! He really came from somewhere… Until now the thought was nothing more than abstract. 

He wasn't intending on going to the Kents right away, but he wanted to be with someone who knew him and his secret. He wanted to run to Lex...

As he debated what to do, he realized Buffy had been pacing behind him for a long time, clearly uncomfortable. He didn't like the look she was giving him.

He searched her visage.

"You think I'm a freak," Clark realized. His dad had told him time and time again the kind of reaction he would get if he'd ever told. He understood it, but it still hurt him deeply.

"No, Clark, I don't. Don't think that," she reassured him.

"Then what?" He asked, ball in his throat.

"I don't know. I'm just not that comfy with the turn of events."

"You're afraid of me," he stated.

"Well, no… Yes. God, I don't know! I can't even imagine the damage you could do, the power you have…Maybe I'm just paranoid. Maybe I shouldn't play 'what ifs', but what if? I don't want to sound pessimistic here, because you've been really nice, really Clark, but what IF-" she let it hang in the air. It wasn't that she wanted Clark to feel bad, but she was stating the obvious. "Ah, it's coming out wrong."

"What makes you think I would do anyone harm? I haven't hurt anyone here, have I?" He asked, a little indignant, the way he answered his father's concerns. "I'm 16 Buffy, and maybe I don't know anything, but I know I'm not that guy. I'm not going to change."

Buffy inhaled deeply, searching. "All of us, our group… Some things sort of…happened," she tried to find the right words, the right way to explain; she got exasperated with herself. "We've done some pretty bad things, okay? Even I've, on occasion, tried to kill my friends," she said, scrunching up her face at how it sounded.

"What?"

"I know I don't make any sense to you right now, but you have to trust me. Things happen. Some things are out of our control."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Fight me?"

"I can't fight you! You'll get hurt!" He exclaimed.

"Don't be so sure. I held my own against a God once. I won too, a little too late but I did. Come on, Clark, it'll make me feel better. Indulge me," she challenged, standing up and rolling up her sleeves. All she needed was one weakness, just in case. 

"I don't…"

"Well, how about you just stand there?" She offered.

Clark nodded slowly and planted his feet.

Buffy hit him with everything she had. **Everything**. Punches, round-house kicks, sweeping moves, two by fours, knives, swords, arrows, a lead pipe, chairs, tables… It all just broke, including more than one bone in her left hand.

She finally stopped, panting heavily, backed herself up against the wall and sat down. Clark was sad. She looked sad too. He sat next to her on the floor.

"Hey, come on. It doesn't mean that you're not super strong, Buffy. It just means that I'm stronger."

"It's my job to save the world Clark. Mine."

"My mom and dad; I think they would say that if you knew me you would know there's no reason to be scared," he offered, knowing deep down that despite his best intentions his parents had been afraid of him, or more accurately his powers, on more than one occasion.

"I feel bad. Maybe I'm just jealous that I found someone better suited for world save-age?"

"Explain it to me?"

"I'm the Chosen one. I 'alone' am supposed to have the power to fight vampires and demons and Hellgods and what-have-you… It's my sacred duty. I've been doing it since my freshman year of High School. When my parents divorced, Mom, Dawn and I moved here, where I thought I could leave the whole thing behind. Color me annoyed when I found out that the High School was built on top of a Hellmouth and that there was more paranormal activity here than anywhere else in the world. Giles, our Librarian, was really my Watcher; sent to give me orders and train me. Xander and Willow found out pretty much the day I got here and they started helping me. There was this girl named Cordelia too, and OZ. Then my mom and Dawn found out and my focus was to keep both of them safe and still graduate," she sighed. "That's the short-short version. I didn't want the job, I never did. But I've gone through a lot for it and maybe I'm a little threatened by you. It's pretty clear that I'll never be able to hold down a job for too long, or have a boyfriend or a puppy. I won't even think about getting married and having kids. I have Dawn though, she's sort of mine, magically. Some monks made her out of me, my blood. Long story. Anyway, I've sent someone I loved to Hell, I've died twice, clawed my way out of my grave … And that doesn't even color the highlights. Really you name it, I've done it, and it's all related to this destiny I have. You, in my place you would have been able to withstand so much more- … I don't know how to deal with all of it. I don't know how to get over it. How do you get over that? Therapy? One day at a time? Should I just keep repressing?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe I should start a support group," the blond offered, half-joking.

"It's hard sometimes, isn't it?"

"You mean to be different?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah. I sure didn't ask for it… Maybe if the council started paying me, I could get somewhere, I mean, DoubleMeat girl by day, Vampire Slayer by night, mom, sister, friend… There just aren't enough hours. And the bills, my God, we're like, a month away from losing the house."

Clark stayed silent, lost in thought.

"Ugh. And here I thought I was doing well…" She sighed, wiping a stray tear. "I shouldn't be complaining. I've got all my limbs, my friends are great, Dawn has been so happy this summer I think she might turn out okay and I have friends. None of the other slayers got to have friends… We've been doing a good job so far, keeping things light. I think I might even be able to get a few nights sleep-" she smiled at the prospect.

"I didn't ask to be different either. I'm not made to be on Earth, but I think, I know, seeing you, seeing what's out there…I have to help. It would be too much of a waste if I didn't and I don't think I could live with myself. You think… Do you think it's possible to do both, have a normal life and… you know, fight?"

"I don't know. I went to college before, maybe you could do better than I did. I mean, I got good grades and everything, but I tend to disappear-"

"I do too," Clark said, realizing he should probably begin thinking about what was more important to him.

"It might work."

"Yeah, maybe I can find a job where running away doesn't get you fired."

"That rules out being a doctor, a sales clerk and a chemist."

"And I can't be a pilot or an astronaut," he mused. "Or a farmer." He added sadly.

"No. Plus you don't want to be responsible for a villain wiping out your herd of cows in retaliation for a plan you foiled."

"Right," Clark said uneasily.

"I'm sorry I'm wigging. You're a really good guy, Clark," Buffy said, turning to him and taking his hand.

Clark squeezed her hand comfortingly. "You could use some help, right? I mean; the world is pretty big."

"It is, isn't it? I keep forgetting. I haven't been farther than L.A. in… Well, since I was 9 and even in L.A. I don't exactly get happy fun time…"

They were silent for a few minutes.

"Maybe when I'm older I can come fill in for you for awhile."

Buffy burst into tears and leaned onto his shoulder. 

"So, we can be friends?" He asked when she had calmed down.

"Are friends aloud to check out each other's butts? You know, 'cause if Anya's right you're not technically a minor," Buffy sniffled.

"Of course," he replied to his own surprise. They both got up to leave the room.

"Good, 'cause it's like, spectacular," she teased, trying to make him blush.

"The meteor rocks," the brunette whispered.

"What?"

"The fragments of the meteors that fell to Earth at the same time I did; they make me weak, they make me sick. I think they might even kill me if I was exposed too long… They're everywhere in Smallville. They're green."

"Why?"

"Just in case; things happen."

He got up, walked to the door and added, "and I can't see through led."

Buffy was dumbstruck.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark was gone. He ran, and ran and ran enjoying the cool air against his skin. Less than an hour and a half later, he was in Smallville. He'd have a good chance at catching Lex awake.

He jumped up to catch the bottom of the balcony to his room and hoisted himself up.

Sadly, the castle was eerily quiet, and Lex's room was empty. He decided that since he had broken in, the least he could do was write a note.

Dear Lex, I learned something new today, and I wanted to share it with you. I hope we can see each other soon.

Clark.

P.S. Met your biggest fan.

He was about to leave when he heard muffled footsteps from the hall. He covered himself with some drapes.

"Clark?"

Clark breathed a sigh of relief and came out of his hiding place.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I was hoping."

Clark took in his friend's appearance: purple terry cloth robe and leather slippers. He held a mug and was moving to take his place on a sofa. 

Normally, when Lex entered a room, he commanded it and all were mesmerized by his presence, whether they liked him or not. Not the case tonight. Probably for the first time in his life, he looked like a guy. A weary, exhausted, conflicted, headache-y guy. The man took a sip of the hot liquid and set down the mug. It smelled like hot chocolate.

Clark took a seat next to him.

"You look tired."

"I'm always tired Clark. I rarely sleep," the bald man said off-handedly.

"How's your father doing?"

"You know better than to ask me that, Clark," he chastised, putting his feet up on the short table in front of him.

"Sorry."

"He's doing better. Planning a counter-attack as we speak I'm sure. It's only a matter of time before I'm fighting for my life, figuratively speaking – I hope."

"So he didn't take it well?"

"That I declared him incompetent and got power of attorney over him and all his holdings?" Lex asked, eyebrow raised.

"Guess not."

"Well, the plant is running smoothly and turning a profit, just like it did before he closed it. Gabe Sullivan has agreed to come back and run it again, so your Chloe should be back for the school year. I just sold Bruce Wayne the Smallville Savings and Loan this afternoon, so the workers are safe, and I'm about to finalize the employee-led buyout. I've got about another week."

"That's great Lex."

"Well, the townspeople have stopped throwing rotting vegetables at my cars."

"That's a plus."

"Yeah, except that by doing all of this, I'm leaving Metropolis wide open for him or someone else to take over. I should be over there running things; I might have had a shot at taking over permanently."

"So why are you here? Why did you do all of this when you could have gone for the brass ring?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You're my only real friend Clark. Sure, I know a lot of people, and I've got Bruce and some clubbing buddies that I like, but they aren't constant, and they don't know me like you do, they don't believe in me like you do. Truth be told Clark, I don't even believe in me like you do," he explained.

"Come on Lex. You're a good man."

"I am today."

Clark didn't know what to say. He chose to see the best in people, but he was starting to think it might take years for Lex to overcome the darkness inside him.

Still, Clark trusted Lex; he couldn't help it. He wanted to tell him about his new friends, regardless of if he was believed or not. He wanted to share about his birth parents, and construction work and Sunnydale.

They talked for about two hours before Clark took his leave. He had not been completely believed, demons and vampires were hard to imagine, but he was happy he could make his friend laugh. He knew how most of what came from his mouth had sounded and still Lex had listened to his tale about his birth parents with interest, and best of all without telling him he was crazy. 

He hadn't spilled about Buffy or the fact she was the slayer, but Lex had definitely felt that Clark had some sort of deeper connection with her. Sometimes it was unnerving how perceptive he was. Clark had cut him off when his friend had started asking if he'd taken her on a date. He also hadn't dared ask for the favor he owed Anya, though; he would do that by phone. It was sort of embarrassing.

Clark walked around his darkened hometown for about and hour. It was sort of eerie in the night; sort of bizarre even, now that he was spending time elsewhere. He checked to see if his parents were in one piece. They were.

After a lot of reflecting, he ran back to Sunnydale, and made it to Xander's house in record time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

He watched the sun rise on Xander's front steps, re-invigorated from the thinking he had done, and relieved Smallville was getting back on it's feet.

He waited for Willow and Xander to awaken. When they had been milling about for a few minutes, he knocked and was told to let himself in.

Xander was wearing an old brown robe and flip-flops. The older man passed him a cup of coffee."Hey man."

"Hey."

"So, do aliens drink coffee?"

"Sure."

"So, Willow's off to England this afternoon. The fight was a little too much for her to handle."

"Yeah," Clark acquiesced, feeling sad that he was partly responsible for last night's display.

"How are you?"

"Yesterday… it's like yesterday the Earth was flat and now it's round?" Clark tried to explain.

"I get that. So I take it you've never met any vamps or demons?"

"No. I mean, the meteors… When I… got here, some meteors fell and exploded into fragments. They, uh, did stuff to some people. Lex was caught in the shower and lost all his hair and he hasn't gotten sick since. Like, the coach of our football team could start fires. And some guys tattooed themselves with this stuff and they could walk through walls."

"Cool."

"Yeah, hypothetically," the younger man agreed, indicating that in practice it was an entirely different story. "This older lady got blinded and could see the future. This other guy would like, suck body-heat away from girls when he kissed them. One girl died," he croaked, trying not to shudder.

"I had a girlfriend once; turns out she was a mummy. She would kiss people and drain the life right out of them."

Clark smiled back at Xander. They took a sip of coffee and waved back to Willow as she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Are you scared of me?" Clark asked the question he had been meaning to since he walked in.

"Should I be?"

"No. I'm just a guy, Xander."

"Buffy already filled me in on what you said last night. Must be tough finding out you're different like that. Buffy got herself committed talking about herself back in L.A.. Don't worry, she's even more your fan now than she was before she knew about you. As for me, you were my friend first and you were always decent with me. You hungry?"

"Always."

"Cold pizza?"

"Lay it on me."

"So, anything 'alien' about you?" Xander asked, looking his friend up and down with raised eyebrows.

"Everything's in the right place and in working order. I think. I lost my powers for a bit, and got hurt. Doctors didn't see anything weird with me. Kinda hard to check anything internal now though, you couldn't get a needle in me with a sledge hammer."

"Lucky bastard. I got hurt so much as a kid I had most of the hospital staff's name committed to memory. Even knew the shifts of the prettiest nurses. I hate hospitals though. I really hate them," he shook his head.

"I guess my heritage does have its perks."

"Yeah. Like the X-Ray vision! Hello! You've got what every man on the planet would die for."

"Yeah. But I only use it when I have to."

"When you have to?"

"To help people," the teenager explained.

"Helping shmelping, I'd be standing in front of a woman's gym all day. Or I'd find Linda Evangelista's house…"

Clark was extremely happy about his talk with Xander. It had taken a while before Xander stopped asking him what the neighbors were doing or the color of the cars passing on the street, but he finally did. They shot the breeze for a while, and then helped Willow pack the rest of her things.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had watched the tearful goodbyes between Willow and her friends from a short distance. Xander's eyes were puffy. The redhead had assured the group many times that she would be back just as soon as she could, *with souvenirs*, but the girls had cried openly anyway.

Willow was glued to her friend Xander, and it looked physically painful when she pried herself away. They watched her walking to the gate, looking back one last time and cracking a smile. Everyone waved bravely.

In that moment, Clark suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt that good would triumph over evil; he wasn't sure why, but he knew it. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

They hadn't seen Anya, but Xander, Dawn and Buffy took Clark to the Multi-Plex to see a movie. Sadly, the only movie that was playing at the time they arrived was Men in Black II. They went in anyway, but didn't really get into the story. They debated the merits of the movie and it's stars all the way to the Bronze.

"But why couldn't they get an actress with real cleavage?"

"I don't know Xan, but she was scary. I mean, not her role, just her."

"Yeah," Dawn chimed in. "Still, was I the only one who thought it was sweet that the Princess was Kay's kid?"

"YES!" Buffy exclaimed. "It was so lame. It was so predictable, I almost hurled in my popcorn. How many painkillers did they give you for that cut?"

"Buffy, you know they were just setting up for the sequel, right?" Xander laughed.

"I know, but is it that hard to find good writers? It's not like they have to pay them much. I mean, what's wrong with having a decent plot to drive your movie? Some dialogue?" She shrieked.

"What do you think Clark?" Xander redirected.

"As alien movies go, I like ET better. He wanted to go home, and he got to go. This was just…"

"A debacle?" Xander chimed in.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"So did we hate it?" Buffy aksed.

"No."

"No."

"No. Hate is such a strong word; it would imply we care much more than we actually do. Don't you think Buff?"

"Yeah. But don't you think that it should be a rule that after getting the millions of dollars together to make a film, they should feed an African country for like, 10 years if they know the thing is going to suck?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes. Wish the world worked like that," Dawn expressed as they walked up to the club.

All of them realized that they hadn't been accosted by one single creature of the night. Dawn was the only one that seemed genuinely disappointed.

When they stepped in, Buffy had Dawn check for vampires, as an exercise, and she spotted only one, drinking alone. Clark did an ex-ray sweep of the room to make sure, and the girl had been right. They kept an eye out, but started enjoying themselves. The ladies around were a tad less rabid with the guys this time, probably because the group stuck closer together.

They danced, they teased each other, and when the conversation turned to Lex Clark realized he hadn't turned his phone on all day. He had 5 messages.

He stepped outside to retrieve them.

_"Hey Clark, it's me. Saturday afternoon, I'm going to New York for about a week on business. I'll call you later."_

_"Hey Clark, it's me. I'm in New York at the Mayflower. Call you later."_

_"Hey Clark. It's Chloe. Look, I got White to give me the weekend plus Monday off. Pete got your address from your mom. Surprise! Oh, gotta go. I'll call you later."_

_"Hey Clark, it's us. We're on the road. Barring my car breaking down, we are flying to see you. You are going to love what I've got planned. It's going to be so fun. I get to see you, and get a story at the same time. That town you live in… Let's just say that more than a few things don't add up. Thanks for turning me on to it."_

_"Hey Clark, it's us. No one was at the address your mom gave us so we came straight here. Pete's a little freaked but he's just being a big baby. It is so cool. We've set up a tent in a cemetery! There are like, 12 I know, but it's near the main street, there's a clearing next to a row of crypts… I've loaded up on coffee. We've got music. We're trying to get a fire going. We bought marshmallows. Pete even got some liquor he thinks we should drink. I'm all set for an all-nighter, got my note pad, got my Dictaphone. Should be great! Can't wait to see you! Call us, and hurry over."_


	10. The cemetery

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 10 - YAY!_**

Author's note:** And here we are at number 10. I made it a special double chapter for you. **

He just about gave his friends a coronary when the Bronze doors flew open violently, one of them coming off it's hinges, and Clark materialized in front of them a split second later. 

He spoke so fast at first that no one understood a word, but he tried again, until he was coherent. 

Buffy scrambled for a plan. 

Clark played the last message back for her, and she told him of all the places she knew of with that description. Clark ran off alone, trying to listen with his powers but being too nervous to get a clear reading. 

Buffy, Xander and Dawn were eager for a cab but also ended up running. They headed to the biggest and most obvious cemetery hoping to hit paydirt. Night had fallen more than 3 hours ago and although they had taken care of a great deal of vampires the night before, many things went bump in the night, especially in a CEMETERY. 

They started up the path with the crypts, out of breath. 

"Did they say they had a fire? What color tent do they have? What are we looking for here?" Xander asked, squinting in the darkness. 

"A couple of morons," Buffy slipped. 

"Ah, come on Buffy, it's not the smartest thing to do, but Chloe's a reporter. She thinks vampires live in this town; where would you look?" Dawn interjected, having traded school and friend stories with Clark many times. 

"Vampires DO live in this town, Dawn." 

"She doesn't know that," the younger girl replied her sister. "She's just excited." 

Xander jumped in. "You're right Dawnie, but it's still not the smartest thing to do. I'm sure it's illegal to be in a cemetery when it's closed. And they might not know how to defend themselves. See, if our town had that standard human bad element, there could be a gang or two out here. You know, 'cause you have to be manly to be out here at night." "Ah!" He squealed in a high voice and jumped at a sound behind a bush. Turned out to be a cat. 

The girls were nice enough to merely shake their heads. 

As they approached a familiar crypt, they all stopped talking. Buffy looked like she was listening very intently, and the other two, knowing she wasn't comfortable and didn't want to talk about it, pretended to do the same. 

Buffy almost got knocked over by the pair of them when she stopped to confirm the tent was close at hand. It was very hard to see because of the dark color, and the lack of fire. 

"You know what, Buffy? Can I go to Clem's?" Dawn asked nervously. 

"Dawnie, don't you want to come meet Clark's friends? Clark's nice HUMAN friends," the slayer teased. 

"I knew you were going to say that! Anyway, just 'cause they're my age doesn't mean I'm going to like them. I want junk food; I can meet them later." 

"Okay. Bring me back a soda." 

"Um." Xander lifted his finger at the younger girl. 

The younger Summers knew he wouldn't be caught dead hanging out in a demon's crypt, but he would have no qualms about eating his snacks. 

"I'll bring some for everyone," Dawn reassured him, turning to knock on the door. Buffy stuffed money into her hand for Clem, because she felt bad Dawn was always mooching off him, and told her to holler if she needed any help carrying things back. 

Buffy and Xander continued cautiously to the tent. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn walked into the crypt, closed the door behind her and called Clem's name. When she didn't get an answer, she made herself at home. She turned on the television and searched for a watchable program, then started wading through the chip bags. 

She had always been comfortable here, but this time she felt strange. She looked around the crypt, but it was bare. 

She attacked the sweets next, tasting some along the way. 

Then the candy, thinking it was funny Clem kept so much food, but was always paranoid about running out. 

She went to the refrigerator for the drinks, pulling some cans of pop out for the three of them. She froze when she saw what was right behind the soda. 

Blood bags. 

Many blood bags. 

Where there hadn't been any just last week. 

She took out the sodas and set them on the coffin she was using as a table. 

She studied the room once more. 

She saw the trap door was closed. 

"Spike?" She called, uneasily. "Spike are you here?" 

When she didn't get an answer she threw a can across the room, where it exploded on the wall loudly and splattered everywhere. "Spike, you better get out here now!" 

"Spike, it's not funny. If it's you, you have to come out!" 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy hadn't been as worried as she would normally be, because she couldn't sense one vampire around at all. The ones that were left were no doubt lying low, and that was fine by her. It would take a few weeks for them to get their numbers back up, and if they could get Willow to show them how to break into the morgue's database, they might be able to keep the count below normal for the rest of the summer. Or at least that's what the Slayer was hoping for. 

She and Xander approached the tent and found the fire extinguished and no one around. Since the tent was closed she kicked the side of it with her foot. 

"Hello. Anyone in there?" 

She didn't get an answer, but she smelled… garlic? 

She unzipped the front of the tent and found Clark's friends, hiding in their sleeping bags. 

"You can come out guys, we're human." 

When they didn't, Xander bent in the opening and smiled at them, even though they hadn't so much as moved one hair. 

"We know you're there. It's okay." Xander added. "Did we mention we're friends of Clark's and you're Pete and Chloe?" 

The young African-American male popped out first, gasping for air. "Oh, thank you. I was dying." 

He took Xander's hand to get on his feet and out of the tent. 

"Hi, I'm Pete, obviously. You must be Xander?" 

"Yeah, and this is my friend Buffy." 

"That must make you one of those hot girls Clark was talking about," he smiled, fully meaning it as a compliment. 

Buffy quietly walked to him and took the garlic necklace off; throwing it so far no one saw where it landed. Pete just stood there. 

Slowly Chloe's eyes popped out, then her whole head and slowly her body came out from her hiding place timidly. 

Once out of the tent, Buffy removed the necklace and threw it just as she had Pete's. She noticed they had crosses stuck in the ground around the tent and Chloe was holding one… So maybe they weren't being COMPLETELY moronic. 

"I'm Buffy. Hi. You're Chloe, this is Xander." She said awkwardly. "So… why are you guys out here?" 

"I did some research for Clark about this town. Got interested. My boss gave me some time off. Not to mention if I come back with a story, I get paid." 

Xander chimed in: "I think what Buffy meant is, why are you here, IN the cemetery?" 

"Vampires. There might be vampires. Or people that think they're vampires. Or mutants," she said seriously. 

"Mutants?" Buffy questioned, somewhat amused. 

"Yes." 

"I don't think we have mutants." The slayer answered. "So, what happened that had you so scared?" 

"Well, first when night fell we noticed a lot of movement around us. At least, a lot more than there should have been in a cemetery. And then we felt like we were being watched. We brushed it off and kept talking but then this man was walking towards us. Since he didn't say anything, we got in the tent and hid. He circled us for a while, asked us to come out, touched the tent; I think he hurt himself and then left." 

"Right." Pete agreed. 

"SO what exactly were you planning on doing to these supposed vampires when you met them?" 

"We had garlic. And crosses. And I sprinkled holy water on and around the tent. I thought it was sort of kick to do all that. We were just planning to observe, anyway. I thought there would be nothing, and then I could still write an editorial call it 'I spent the night in a cemetery'. I'd have to keep it for a school publication, but it wouldn't be a waste of time." 

"You just wanted to see Clark, really, really badly," Pete chimed in. 

Seeing Chloe's face redden, Buffy spoke up. 

"Not bad thinking with the crosses and the holy water. Especially since you went off half-cocked." 

"Still, what's with the garlic? Now you both reek," Xander teased, moving away from them and fanning himself. 

"Xan!" 

"It's okay, I can smell myself," Pete admitted, embarrassed. 

"So, are there vampires in this town?" Chloe asked Xander point blank. 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"Wouldn't you?" 

"No." 

"But you're in a neighborhood watch group, aren't you? So you should know. Why else would this be the murder capital of the world? Why else would people die of exsanguinations more than all the other causes of death combined? Why else would there be so many cemeteries and churches and synagogues?" 

Xander looked helplessly at Buffy, who sighed and spoke. 

"Would you believe gangs on PCP?" 

"Isn't that a tranquilizer?" Chloe rebutted.

"So you're saying they do exist?" Pete squeaked. "'Cause I don't think I'm ready for that. I'm not even used to the meteor mutants yet." 

"Meteor mutants?" Buffy asked, trying to deflect attention. 

"They're the ah- hometown, homegrown freaks." Pete answered, smiling nervously. How was one supposed to react in this kind of situation, anyway? 

"So, do you know where Clark is?" The young blonde asked, suddenly uneasy in the open and looking around… 

"He should be here soon." Xander assured her. 

"Runs off on you too, does he?" 

"Nah," the slayer defended the alien. "I just sent him to get…" Buffy drew a blank. 

"Changed?" Xander supplied. 

"Yeah, his shirt clashed with our group color scheme. See, we're all wearing blue, white and black." Buffy answered, than turned around to rub her temples. She wasn't that great a liar. She just didn't care enough. 

Buffy listened for Clark, but only heard a few meows in the distance. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn took a fighting stance when the trap door moved, then opened all the way. She kept the same stance when she saw the brown hair with platinum tips, and beautiful blue eyes she used to think she knew so well. 

"You scared me, Spike." 

"I'm sorry." 

"Whatever; what are you doing here?" She asked, tentatively putting her arms down. 

"I need her help," he admitted, eyes cast away from her as he closed the trap behind him. He didn't dare say her sister's name. 

"Is it true?" She questioned coldly, through gritted teeth. 

"Is what true, Nibblet?" 

She advanced on him and stood mere inches away, looking him straight in the eye, challenging him to answer her. "Is. It. True." 

"Yes," he replied truthfully. 

That got him punched in the face, very, very hard. His nose oozed blood and sported a cut. Dawn's hand throbbed from the force and one of the stitches on her upper arm busted. Spike didn't say anything. 

"How could you do that to her?" 

When the vampire didn't answer she punched him in the gut and kicked him in the stomach, then threw him up against the wall, holding him up by his collar. 

A small smile came over the vampire and Dawn misinterpreted it. 

"You sick bastard." 

"No, pet, look, I was just thinking how you remind me of her. Of how she beats on me." 

Dawn sighed and let Spike go. He didn't move. She paced around for at least a minute before coming back into his personal space. 

She had tears in her eyes and she spoke much more softly. "Why? I want to know why you did that, Spike?" 

His face stayed the same, but tears started poring freely out of his tired eyes. 

"Tell me." 

"She was denying there was anything between us. I wanted to make her remember, to make her feel," he explained, sounding like he was relating the facts, not like he believed it was a valid justification. 

"And you think that's an excuse? I thought you loved her. We all did." 

"But I stopped. As soon as I realized what was happening I stopped. I scared her, I disgusted myself and I stopped." He stated blankly. 

"Really. You disgusted yourself?" She asked with a sarcastic tone, like she wasn't buying it. 

"I was. I really was. I was mad that I did that. I was even madder that I hadn't finished it. It meant the man in me was stronger than sodding vampire, Bit. It meant I was fading away." 

Dawn punched the wall next to his face in frustration. Her knuckles started bleeding. Spike turned away from the sweet smell. 

Dawn's face softened as tears came slowly, and then steadily, down her face. 

"I don't understand, Spike. I don't understand. Why did you do that? Why? I cared about you. Did you know that? I loved you. I always have. You were like my crush and my friend and God, you did the dad thing at my school last year." 

"I should never have been any of those things." 

"You fucking were, okay? You saved my life so many times... And even when you didn't have the chip you were nice to me. " 

"I'm sorry." 

"Don't say that." 

"Please don't cry Dawn." 

"I hate you." She sobbed into his shoulder. 

"I know." 

"I missed you." 

"I missed you too Bit. I missed you too." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy was getting dizzy from looking around and around the cemetery. She was feeling uneasy, but she was distracted with the conversation she was having, or trying not to have. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Clark in the distance, and he appeared behind his Smallville friends. 

"Hi Guys. Hey man. Chloe." Clark shook hands with Pete (and did the manly embrace/pat on the back thing) and wrapped Chloe up in a hug, twirling her around and kissing her cheek. 

"So Buffy," he said, approaching her and whispering. 

"There's someone behind those bushes at one o'clock. Not human. Not vampire. His organs are reversed and working properly, but the body has a few extras and the external shape's a little off." 

Buffy listened as hard as she could and took a few tentative steps in the direction Clark had indicated. 

All she could hear were cats. Or maybe not cats… 

"Clem, is that you?" 

She didn't get an answer. 

"Clem, come out here right this instant." 

The saggy skinned humanoid came out of his hiding place with a sheepish grin, and a large picnic basket. 

"Clem." 

"Oh, hi Buffy. You look nice. What brings you to the neighborhood? Dawn with you?" He asked, a little too fast. 

"She went to your crypt to raid your stash." 

"Right, so I'll be going then." 

"Not so fast," she said, grabbing his arm as he walked by to swing him around. "Have you been playing kitten poker again?" 

"No, of course not. I would never… Well, I have, but I wouldn't now, no." 

"So you won't mind if I look in that basket of yours then, right?" She asked, advancing to grab it. The basket rattled and all heard scratching noises. 

Clem jerked back and started walking backwards. "Well you see, I got myself these special types of um… toads as pets. If they see the outside, they'll… ah-melt?" 

"Let them go Clem." 

"Oh, come on. I'm going to take care of them and eat them nice and proper. If I let them go, they could get hurt," he said, trying to make her feel bad. "Look at how helpless they are- this fat one won't survive half a day." 

"Let them go Clem. I want no part of this." 

"But-" 

"I'll give you human money to buy more food." 

"Fine. Jeez, you could have just said that," the demon said, opening his picnic basket to let go of a litter of kittens. Buffy hoped they would be picked up and put in a shelter. 

"Excuse me," Chloe asked Clem as nicely as she could. "But what are you?" 

Clem looked at Buffy who shook her head no. 

"I have a skin disorder. Don't you know it's not polite to stare?" 

"I'm sorry. Can I just ask one more thing?" The reporter smiled. 

"What is it?" 

"What's the disorder called?" 

"Um… saggybaggyelephantis?" He tried, grinning proudly at his quick thinking, until he saw the look on Buffy's face and realized he hadn't done too well. 

"No remember, I saw the brochure and it said extremesepilodermitus." Buffy said through clenched teeth. 

"Yeah, that's it. So anyway, I better be going now." 

"Tell Dawn to hurry up." 

"Yeah, yeah." 

"And stay away from the kittens." 

"I said alright, jeez." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn was still crying on Spike when Clem walked in. 

"Hi guys." 

"Clem." Dawn said, jerking up and wiping her tears. "I got some money for you." 

"It's my lucky day," he said, passing by to take the bill. 

"So." 

"So?" Asked the junk food aficianado. 

"Can you give us a minute?" Spike asked. 

"Sure. I'll be downstairs." 

When he was gone, Spike wiped the remainder of Dawn's tears away with his thumb and put her hair behind her ears. 

"I don't forgive you," she told him, stepping away. 

"I don't expect you to." 

She stared at him for what seemed like minutes. "Something's different. You don't seem like-" 

"Like what?" 

"Why are you like that?" Dawn took his face in her hands and searched his eyes. Really searched them. 

"Like what, Bit?" He asked, trying to act nonchalant while escaping her gaze. 

She held his face in place and made him look at her. 

"Like Angel," she whispered, backing away from him in disbelief. 

"I'm not," he scoffed, forcing a smile. 

"What happened?" She inquired, not letting it go. 

He looked into her eyes challengingly, not wanting to give up his secret. She wouldn't concede. 

"Let's just say I was asking for it and leave it at that," he relented one minute later. 

"Right." She said uneasily, unsure of everything. 

"Please don't tell." 

"Fine," she agreed, a little numb. "I gotta go, Buffy's outside with some friends" 

"Yeah. Alright then." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark wanted to ask his friends so many things. And wanted to tell them how stupid they were for doing what they had done. He couldn't. They were teenagers, same as he was. He would have gone along with this had they been back in Smallville. It wouldn't have been his idea, but he could follow Chloe anywhere… 

He needed to follow her everywhere! She was like a beacon for trouble. Still, if he hadn't been sent to Earth there would probably have been no meteors, therefore no meteor mutants, and Chloe might have been safe. 

Pete leaned into Clark, shaking his head in both desperation and undeniable fondness as he watched Chloe advance on Xander and Buffy. 

"She's got that glint in her eye again." Pete told his friend. 

"Yep." 

"Man, when that girl gets an idea in her head, there's no stopping her." 

"That's for sure. Still Pete, you could have gotten hurt coming here, and setting up in a cemetery?" 

"It seemed like a good idea at the time; plus she batted her baby blues at me. I mean, what was I supposed to do, bro?" 

Clark and Pete sighed and turned their attention to the intrepid reporter. 

"So you know all about the deaths and the exsanguinations?" 

"Yes, alright. I know. We all know." Buffy conceded. Everyone seemed to have some idea of what was going on. She'd rather not tell, but if this girl really wanted to know, really thought she could deal, she wasn't going to stop her. 

"Your high school class had the lowest death rate in years." 

"Yeah, go us. '99 is #1." Xander cheered sarcastically. 

"Clark, did you give her our last names?" 

"No, I didn't. I only mentioned Xander and you Buffy, and only by first name." 

"There are no other Buffys in Sunnydale." 

"Whatever." 

"So, how'd you do it?" Xander wondered. 

"I sort of did an overview check of school statistics and records because the "paranormal" activity in Smallville happens more often around high school students. I got lucky." 

"So, you're a hacker. We could use you, right Buff?" 

"Sure, I was going to call Willow but if we can give her a rest we should do that. Clark. Any objections?" The slayer questioned. 

"To what?" 

"The truth concerning this town?" Xander supplied. 

"If they want to hear it." 

"Lay it on me." Chloe replied with extreme excitement. 

"Pete?" Clark nudged his friend. 

"Well, I'd rather not be the only one in the dark. If this town is really as freaky as ours is, I wanna know why and how and who to stay away from." 

"First, you have to promise not to tell anyone. The government, they already know, most officials are totally in on it, but it is not our place to tell the rest of the world, so if it's a story you want here, you won't get it." Buffy explained to Chloe. 

"I'll be the judge of that," the younger blonde replied sassily. 

"Than I'm not saying a word." 

"Fine. I won't expose you and I won't expose the town," the reporter swore, clearly not liking the idea and fighting the juvenile urge to cross her fingers. 

"Xander, do you want to take this or shall I?" 

"World is full of demons. High School was on a Hellmouth. Mystical convergence makes Sunnydale a hotspot. Lots of people die here. Clark can fill you in." 

"And neighborhood watch?" Chloe asked, looking Clark's way. 

"They help." 

"So, vampires?" Chloe asked skeptically. "Really?" 

"Yes, among other things," Buffy confirmed. 

"Like that Clem?" 

"Saw right through that, did you?" Xander smiled. 

"I'm pretty sharp. Saggy Baggy Elephant 'is'? That's just... dumb." 

"Hey, I thought mine sounded believable," Buffy said, mildly offended. 

"It did, but the damage was done, he wanted to eat kittens." They could all tell she was super excited. 

"So, what do you do?" Pete asked, curiously. "You walk the streets and what? Tell these things to move on, scare them away?" 

"It's a long story. Look, let's pack up this stuff and get out of here, shall we? We'll go to my place. Xander, can you put Pete up tonight?" 

"Sure," he accepted. 

"And can you go get Dawn while I help them with this, just in case something happens?" 

"I'm all over it. Still want that soda?" 

"Yes." 

"I'll be right back." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn wasn't exactly comfortable, and she didn't know what to think about the turn of events. She let Spike stack the candy and sweets and chips and soda cans into her arms and help her out the door. That's when Xander walked up. 

His entire demeanor changed and Dawn had to jump back. She tried to say something to hold him off, but he had lunged forward. He knocked her down trying to get through and her snacks went flying. She bit her lip when she realized blood was once again dripping down her arm.

Xander grabbed on to Spike's neck impossibly hard and kneed him in the groin and without letting him recover, dragging him towards the group of people. 

Buffy was still talking when they came up behind her. 

"Buff" He asked, clearly mad, and she turned around. "I found this hanging around your sister. What do you want me to do with him?" 

Buffy's face blanched, but her heart started racing a mile a minute. This was the last thing she expected. She hadn't even felt a vampire around at all. Spike looked absolutely horrible, and he was just letting himself be manipulated physically. To her dismay, she didn't get any satisfaction from seeing that. 

"Come on Xander, let him go. It's okay." 

"It's okay? It's okay?" 

"It's okay, Xan, come on," she said, taking a step forward. 

Clark had stepped back in front of his Smallville friends and was watching the scene wearily. This was clearly a vampire, but he felt different from the others. He curiously felt the need to protect him. 

He decided he needed to butt out this time. 

"Don't you act like my mother did! I was there. I found you that day, remember? So don't you tell me everything's okay. It's not. After what he did? It'll never be okay. What this **scum** did to you…"

"I said let him go Xander." 

"You can't ask me that! You don't have the right. Someone hand me a stake, I'm going to finish this once and for all," he commanded, not paying heed to the tears of rage streaming down his face. 

No one complied. Dawn finally walked up to Xander and pried his hand away from the vampire's throat. He didn't resist her, and Spike didn't move away.

"I want to kill him, Buffy. I want to be the one to feel the stake ram through his non-existent heart. I want him gone." Xander cried. He choked: "please let me kill him." 

When again he got no answer, he screamed in frustration. 

Dawn embraced him and Spike stood aside, making himself scarce. 

Xander calmed a little and looked into his nemesis' eyes. 

"You're not going to survive the summer if I see you again, you got that? Some things are more than unforgivable." He threatened icily, then spat in his face. He took in Dawn's bloody appearance and told her she was going back to the hospital. The girl got him walking and bent them both down to grab some refreshments. She mouthed to Buffy that she would take him home. 

Buffy nodded her approval. Poor Xander was going to be needing a new punching bag ASAP and what he would deem a logical explanation. She hoped that once again their friendship would prevail. 

Arms crossed, she looked at the problem at hand. 

Clark tried to keep Pete and Chloe away by telling them that it is none of their business. 

"That was intense." Pete whispered, about to start a conversation of his own. 

Chloe pushed past Clark, clearly eavesdropping, and the boys had to follow her… 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Buffy?" 

"Spike." 

"So how are you?" 

"I'm fine." 

"You don't look fine." 

"Dawn needed to work through some things." 

"Who knew she was that strong, huh?" 

"I did. She has Slayer's blood. She's not in the traditional line, but she may as well be." 

"I guess I should have known that." 

"So. This is awkward," he said, toeing the ground. 

"Yeah. Where were you?" 

"Africa. L.A recently. Um. See. Um. Angel's gone missing." 

Buffy's previously held together face cracked. She felt blindsided. 

"Don't you dare bring him up to me! You have no right to speak his name." 

"He's my sire." 

"Grandsire." 

"No such thing. You think Dru molded me?" 

"Whatever Spike. I don't care." 

"He's in trouble, I know he is. I came here to see if you would consider helping me. For old time's sake?" he asked, not specifying which old times he was talking about. 

"Helping you. HELPING YOU? HELPING. YOU." She roared. "We could have used your help when Tara and I got shot. We could have used your help when Willow tried to destroy the world. We could have used you and instead you went off on some sort of holiday-" 

"Holiday? After what I did? You think I went on break?" 

"Well what were you doing then?" 

"Tryin' to get the bleeding chip out. I figured I owed it to us to give it a try, to come back and kill you. To stop the pain." 

"Your pain, of course... Figures Spike. Really. So how'd it go?" 

"How do you think it went?" He asked, clearly ashamed, eyes cast down. 

"Don't be too disappointed, means you'll live longer." 

"I'm sorry about you and the bird. She-" 

"Save it. She died." 

"Yeah, I got that part." 

"We did fine without you." 

"Yeah?" Spike perked up slightly. 

"Xander saved the world." 

Spike felt like he was punched in the solar plexus. Again. He swallowed the ball in his throat and looked at his love pleadingly. 

"Buffy, I have to say I'm sorry. It's not an excuse, but I was … You know how it was with us. We were always violent. You even more than I, it was foreplay. I didn't catch on as quick as I should've, I know. I got carried away. I didn't see the difference." 

"Whatever. I'm mostly mad at myself, anyway." 

"For what?" 

"Deep down I trusted you. Deep down I counted on you. I still think of turning to you when things go wrong." 

"You can, Buffy." 

"Don't you call me that and no I can't. You don't have a soul Spike. You're a crutch. You're nothing more than a replacement because I can never have a man in my life. Because Giles is gone. Because it's easy." 

"What kind of man do you want, *Slayer*? " 

When she didn't answer Spike continued. 

"Come on, if you could have your pick: what would dream-bloke be like? Someone who can take care of himself? How 'bout someone who can fight and who's not threatened by your strength? Who wouldn't be affected by the hours you keep?" He kept listing, "Someone you can feel passion for, right? Someone who loves your little family. Someone who'll tolerate your friends and take care of you when you need it." 

"Shut up." The blonde told him coldly. 

"Someone who understands you'll always love Angel, even though you were more ill-suited for each-other than we are," he continued. "Someone you can talk to." 

"We don't talk." 

"You wouldn't let us. Every time we did you'd cut it short; afraid I'd start feeling like a boyfriend instead of a shag. Come on Buffy. You know it's true. I'm the man you need. You could fall in love with me." 

"You're a vampire, you don't know love," she relied just to hurt him, and it worked. 

"I'm the first to admit the conscience is harder to find, but damn it loving is what I do best. I always knew love. Angelus had to get a soul and skulk around for 100 years before he felt it. I felt it when I was alive and I felt it when I died; I feel it still. You've been my conscience. You treat me badly, but it doesn't change the way I see you. I love you, weather you're in my bed or kicking my ass. I love you when you think I'm not watching. I LOVE YOU when you're not loving me. I love you when you're at your very best and even more when you're at your worst. You're inside me Buffy. You're in my heart." 

"Don't say that." 

"I love you." 

"You're a glutton for punishment," she said, the beginning of a smile on her lips. 

"Tell me something I don't know," he said, looking almost shy. 

"God Spike. Look at us. We can't do this!" The slayer returned to earth. "I was hurt and you tried to rape me!" 

"I stopped, didn't I? Could you say Angelus would have done the same? I'm more than just a vampire. I'm a man, Buffy. I could be yours." 

"I hate you Spike." 

"I'm sorry. I know what it feels like to be… in that situation, the panic, the disbelief. I know and I'm sorry I put you through that. I never-"

"Go away," she cut him off. "And stay away from Dawn." 

"I will." *Beat.* 

"Buffy? About L.A.?" He practically whispered. 

"Why would you want to find Angel anyway? And how do you know he's not off fighting evil somewhere else?" 

"It's a long story: Jist is everyone knows L.A's wide open now. Angel being gone's big news, lots of rumors, though... something about a law firm. We're flying blind and there's almost nowhere we can get answers. Not to mention I can't harm more than half the population. I'd need your left hook to gather information," he explained. 

'How do you know he's not…"

"We'd both have felt it." Spike cut her off, taking a tentative step towards her. He lifted his arm to tuck one of her stray locks behind her ear, but she took a small step back. "You would do it for him, wouldn't you?"

"I'll think about it," she lied. 

"Thank you." 

"Don't thank me. Leave." 

Clark walked up to Buffy and took her in his arms. She didn't break down, but he knew a few tears were wetting his shirt. 

She put on a brave face, swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat and ignored the questions whizzing through her brain. They all got to work packing up the tent. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------


	11. Tedious walk home

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 11 _**

Chloe was walking between Clark and Pete, excitedly holding on to Clark's arm. 

"So how did you find out?" 

"About what Chloe?" 

"About all this supernatural stuff." 

"Um." 

"Okay, so answer me this: are your friends really sure that there are vampires here in town?" 

"They seem to be." 

"Vampires that only come out at night and need human blood to survive?" 

"I guess." 

"And you can confirm this?" 

"I don't really have any proof." 

"Okay, well, first we'll have to do more research because this is way beyond your Smallville straight up 'cause and effect. I don't even know what it would be classified as… Magic? Maybe, although I might have missed a meteor shower or maybe the government is testing a psychosis-inducing drug on the population without anyone knowing-" 

"Yeah, and how the hell would we find that out?" Pete asked, trying to get Chloe to think about what she was saying for a minute. 

"I have my sources." 

"She has her sources." Clark shook his head and Pete nodded his. "Of course she does. Of course you do." 

"There were unsubstantiated rumors of a covert military organization stationed here. Ooh, maybe we should be collecting ground samples…" 

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Clark asked the insatiable reporter. 

"Well, something's obviously going on, and the public has the right to know about it." 

Both guys smacked her in the stomach. 

"Chloe, you promised," Pete reminded her, "and I'm not sure I really want to find out either way, so why don't we just take it easy?" 

"But I want to know! I have to confirm this," she explained. "You can't just throw me a bone like that and expect me to sit on my hands." She batted her eyelashes at her friends. "Come on guys, you know how I am! We've only got a couple of days and taking it easy just won't cut it." 

"Right," Clark said, glancing at his excited friend wearily, sideways. 

"Do we know anything else? Like where all these gangs hopped up on horse tranquilizers are?" 

"I haven't seen any." 

"So it's got to be a cover-up of some kind. Maybe I should make an appointment with the police chief?" 

"M-hum" the boys answered as she kept thinking aloud. 

"I should also talk to the school principal, maybe interview some people that are closer to our age, find out if there's a local hangout…" 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy was walking up front, lugging most of the visitor's gear. Clark was catching up with his friends, several feet behind her. It seemed that Chloe, in all the excitement, had lost her car, or so she claimed. Buffy made it her point to walk faster than they could so as to avoid most questions. 

She surprised herself sometimes. It was like her to be a bad liar, she had always been, but it wasn't like her to just give up her secrets. Was it? Still, she hadn't said anything about slayers, or keys or witches or vengeance demons or vampires (she's been involved with) or watchers for that matter, and she didn't intend to. She was hoping that the information that came out of her mouth was her brain subconsciously telling her that some truth was the easier way to go, and would keep everyone safe. 

If it was just she, being careless, than she had more of a problem, and she really did not need to add to the list. 

She thought she had problems when her shoes didn't match her clothes back in LA. She thought she had problems when she had a curfew and a new secret identity and a snooping little sister. She knew she had problems when she met Principal Snyder. She thought being with Angel was going to be her worst period of inner turmoil, but it *so* wasn't. There had been Faith, and her mother dying, and coming back from the dead. She wasn't getting better at managing her inner self. She hadn't dealt with half the things that had happened to her. She always just kept on trucking, because it was her job, because she wasn't only the most important person in her sister's life, but she was also important to the planet. She hadn't wanted to die young; when she had, she hadn't realized the huge blessing it was, how blissfully happy she would be. Normal adults couldn't deal down here half the time. A girl who went through what she went through SHOULD be banging her head against the wall in a mental institution… 

And maybe she still was, she thought with a smile, remembering her strange episode. 

She looked around when she realized everyone had stopped walking, including herself. Clark came up beside her. 

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, putting a concerned hand on her shoulder. 

_Hey, if he's superboy, why the hell isn't he carrying more of this shit? Oh, right, answering would be good._

"Whah?" _Okay, that could have been more eloquent._

"You sort of shouted, then stopped and smiled. Chloe and Pete didn't want to intrude. You're alright, though, right?" 

"I shouted. Right." Going round and round on certain topics did make her want to wail in frustration. She just ignored that she had. Like she tried to ignore that she was trying desperately not to think of Spike and what he had told her. 

She heard Chloe say something about psychosis to Pete and shrugged it off. "I'm fine Clark." The older blonde said. She turned to see Clark's friends closing the gap between them tentatively. "I just had this really bad song in my head, and it's been there for three days straight now, so, you understand," she told them. 

"Yep, and I totally empathize, but I totally don't want you to share," Pete said, getting a glare from Clark; he explained himself, "I just got a song I like to replace one we heard on the way over, but it might not stick. So I know your pain, but I'm trying not to relive it." 

"Fair enough," Buffy said, turning back in the direction of her house to continue her trek. Clark whispered: "they heard your conversation. They didn't understand half of it but Chloe might be wired or taking notes."

"Great."

She'd have to call Xander's when she got home and see how he was doing. Damn! Why couldn't she just let him kill Spike? So what if the vampire was rational enough to help her save the world way back when he was chip-less? So what if he displayed a lot of human qualities that surprised her? So what if he kept Dawn's secret and let himself be tortured by Glory? So what that he couldn't defend himself against humans and he regularly helped her keep the streets clean? So what if he was the only one she didn't have to worry about getting hurt? So what if she beat up on him way too much because she felt like it and it was easy to tell herself he wasn't alive? So what if she felt bad about all those times she broke his bones and left him bleeding on the floor when it hadn't been at all necessary? So what if they had a sexual relationship and he actually helped her in her time of need? He was a vampire, even with the chip. He wanted to kill her as much as he wanted to have sex with her. And she couldn't kill him, because she sadly couldn't imagine a world without him in it. 

She just had to put the fact that he had intended to rape her on top of the pile of things she wouldn't deal with and move on if it was possible. Not forgive him. Not ever. Just stick it on the pile and keep walking. Right? 

"Right what?" Clark asked. 

"Oh, no. Sorry, I was um; I guess I was thinking out loud. Just call me scatterbrain Buffy." 

"You sure you're alright?" 

"No, of course I'm not, Clark. You heard what went on back there." 

"I'm sorry." 

"Not your fault." 

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop." 

"Of course you didn't, don't worry about it Clark, just don't make me talk about it right now." 

"Sure." 

"So, why are you walking up here with me?" 

"Chloe's asking too many questions and it isn't my place to answer. I love the girl, but she's different when she's a reporter. She's like a real reporter, and she'll get it out of you. Or she won't but she'll still know exactly what's going on." 

"So what you're saying is you'll spend your entire high school career dodging every opportunity one of your best friends has to ask you questions?" 

"Um, well, yeah?" 

If Clark hadn't been such a freakin' giant, she would have patted him on the head like he was nuts and walked off. Given there was more than a foot difference between them, she took his arm and half cuddled him: "Good luck," she told him. He was going to need it if he really intended to keep his secret. 

"Yeah, I'm going to need it," Clark acknowledged. 

"Yeah, and speaking of need, help me lug this, would ya?" She asked, plopping half the gear into his hands. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark could feel Pete and Chloe watching. It was sort of strange having his old friends and new friends together. He wondered if he was the same with both groups. He loved his Smallville friends deeply and he could tell them almost everything. He enjoyed the Sunnydale group, and had the freedom of being himself. They were more serious and sillier at the same time in this town. He hoped both groups would get along. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

She didn't want to jinx them by thinking that they were home free so Buffy sped up once she hit Revello drive. 

She dropped everything outside her door and fumbled with the keys. She looked back at Clark and saw him scanning the area. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was granted access and ushered everyone in. 

She told the three to make themselves comfortable and ran to the kitchen, grabbing dirty dishes along the way and putting them in the sink. The message light blinked on the old answering machine. She hesitated to get them, but Dawn had been the one to take them the past two weeks at least, and she really shouldn't shirk her responsibilities like that. 

_"Hello, the message is for Miss Buffy Summers. This is Mrs. Kowalski; I'm in charge of informing parents whose children are in the intensive summer school programs that they will be starting Tuesday instead of Monday. Also, the exam period will be commencing one day later than previously scheduled. The reason for this delay is the availability of the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High School. If there is a problem with the change of venue, please contact me as soon as possible... Let's see. I have your daughter Dawn's transcript right here. She will be attending -oh. It says here she missed a few important year-end exams. She needs to take Physics, English and History over. You also need to have a talk with the P.E. and Geography teachers to discuss an appropriate way to get her a passing grade. Thank you kindly for your time."_

*Message saved.* 

Ugh! Buffy despised these types of phone calls. So Dawn was being a clepto and hanging out with a vampire most of the year? She still had decent grades- at least since the social worker scare. Was it her fault their friend had tried ending the world on one of her exam days? 

_"Hello, this is Time magazine. The message is for Mrs Joyce Summers. Your subscription is almost up-"_

*Message deleted.* 

_"This is the National Bank calling for Miss Buffy Summers. You need to make an appointment to meet with the bank manager as soon as possible. Your balance is well below zero once more-"_

*Message deleted.* 

_"Hi. This is Fred again. That's short for Winifred. Burkle… is my last name. Look, I understand you don't know us, but we work with Angel and we really need to speak with you. He's missing, and so is Cordy. That's Cordelia Chase, I think you went to high school together? I swear we wouldn't be calling if we weren't scared. I mean Charles isn't really scared; I'm the one that's afraid. We're all alone here. We don't know what to do. At first I was just thinking that maybe he and Cordelia holed up together for a bit, but their cars were abandoned in two completely different places. I'm sorry. This is already my seventh call and I'm taking up all the space on your service. Look, I just need to find my friends. I was wondering if you could help? If this is not the correct phone number for Buffy Summers you shouldn't be listening to this message. I guess I should go now. By. Oh wait. The number for Charles' cellular phone is in the 555 area code then 947-4606. We had to disconnect the phones at the Hyperion."_

*Message saved.* 

She knew she had an audience, and she was not going to share her feelings about this. Angel was still missing after more than one month? Her heart just sank. How could she have ignored this for so long? How could she ever afford to take the time off to go to L.A. to look for him? What would she tell everyone? She'd probably have to sell the house just to pay for round-trip bus fare and a cheep motel… And then there was Spike, who also wanted to go. And she had guests damn it! She thought things were going well since Willow… They were goofing around and bonding and making a new friend. Why did the shit have to hit the fan every freakin' five seconds? 

She had the added stress of knowing Angel would look for her, no question, if he knew she was missing. 

She bent over the counter and put her head in her hands. She took some deep breaths and felt Clark's hands on her shoulders. She leaned back into him for a split second, a frustrated 'ah' crossing her lips and fought the urge to throw the answering machine against the wall when she heard the next message was from a bill collector. 

She deleted that last message and dialed Xander. She told her guests she would only be one more minute. 

"Hey Dawnie. You need me to come pick you up?" 

"Okay, how's Xander?" 

"Oh. Well, at least he's feeling better." 

"Good. You think he'll ever talk to me?" 

"Thanks. So you're staying over?" 

"Well, that would mean we would be short one bed, Dawn." 

"Okay, I'll sleep in it. I swear, punkin', all you'll have to worry about are sister cooties." 

"Call me when you're ready to leave tomorrow, I'll be back here at one thirty." 

"Hey, that's Lex Luthor and he is not creepy!" She laughed, smiling at Clark and shaking her head. 

"Don't tell Anya, but I'm sure Xander will let you take them down if they wig you out." 

"Ask him." 

"I don't know, I think he's cute. Did I tell you he was Clark's friend?" 

"Yep. It's true." 

"Okay, bye." 

Pete and Chloe's eyes were wide at the mention of Lex Luthor. Clark was smiling. 

"Xander's fiancé Anya has a big thing for Lex Luthor. Since Xander didn't want her to put up posters and things in the apartment, she put all her things in the guest bedroom closet. It's just a tad shriney and Dawn got a problem with it," the older woman explained to her visitors. 

"Lex Luthor has fans?" Pete asked incredulously. 

"She is a big fan of money first," Buffy answered. "But you have to admit the boy's quite good-looking regardless." 

"You have got to be kidding me," Pete chimed in again, "she's kidding right?" 

Both Chloe and Clark didn't answer the question. Pete looked like he'd bit into a lemon. 

"So I guess I should show you to your rooms?" Buffy said, changing the subject. 

"Why don't we just set the tent up in the back yard?" Chloe asked, hopefully. 

"No." Clark and Buffy both said. 

Buffy didn't want Chloe to do anything stupid, so she compromised. 

"We'll do that tomorrow. It's just I need to get a good night's sleep tonight because I'm working 5am to 1 in the afternoon. Plus the tent is going to take awhile to set up. Maybe you three can do it in the morning?" She asked, trying not to sound completely against the idea. If she had a whole day, she had time to plan out a defense strategy. It shouldn't be too hard, since they had X-Ray vision boy with them. 

She looked at them, trying to figure out where to put them. The blow up mattress her mother had bought years ago was no longer inflatable, so she had to put them in rooms. She didn't love the idea. 

"Clark, if you and Pete could share, you could take Willow and Tara's room?" 

"Sure," he shrugged. 

"Chloe, that means you get my room, and I will sleep in Dawn's room." 

Chloe didn't say anything; Buffy guessed she was going to take the opportunity to snoop. It was going to be a long night. 

Chloe and Pete made their way upstairs while Buffy and Clark stayed behind to get extra blankets. She spoke to Clark in hushed tones. 

"Do you think you could have Pete leave his things on the floor? Some of my mother's things are still in that room and all of Tara's things are still there. Her family wouldn't come to the funeral and Willow… Most of her things are still in there too. It would be nice if you left things alone as much as possible." 

"I understand." Clark said sadly, but he didn't understand, not really. He couldn't. 

"How many hours sleep do you really need?" 

"7 minimum when I'm adjusting to a power, 2 hours normal. Why?" 

"I'm not asking you to get a headache or anything, but can you make sure Chloe doesn't play detective with my personal belongings?" 

"I'll try." 

There's a diary in my nightstand drawer and a weapons chest in the closet. 

"Got it." 

"Look, I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin. Can you pretend you've been here before, show them their rooms and the bathroom?" 

"Okay." 

"I'm just going to go."

She took one last apologetic look at Clark, ran to the door, then ran back to kiss his cheek 'thank you' and get the keys. 

Clark only noticed his friends were watching from the top of the stairs because Pete clapped his hands at him. Chloe looked bothered, but didn't say anything. 

Clark made his way up the stairs slowly, as he familiarized himself with the house. He guessed the purple room was Dawn's. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

How long would it take to run to L.A.? She couldn't help thinking. Would this Charles person accept the charges if she called him? And had they killed that many vampires that there wasn't one she could beat up right now?


	12. Strangers on Revello Drive

**The Stranger Summer**

**_Chapter 12 _**

**BY:**Ann of Midnight

------------------------------------------------------------------------

She had to snoop. 

Chloe finished brushing her teeth and gave up her place to Pete. She smiled innocently as she passed Clark. She closed the door to Buffy's room and took out her mini-recorder. She thought back to what she had overheard and tried to sum it up. 

"Looks like vampires exist. Garlic doesn't work. Something about being on a Hellmouth and demons. Met a humanoid named Clem. He eats kittens. This guy named Spike said something about a Dawn having Slayers blood. Sire. Grandsire. Buffy and Sara, I think, got shot! (God I hope not). Willow tried to destroy the world. Xander saved the world. Something about Angelus and souls. About feeling love. Oh, he called Buffy 'slayer'," she thought, pausing for a moment. "She also said he tried to rape her so I don't know what to do with that," she said, sighing. "Investigate claim that local law enforcement covers up." 

She immediately started looking around, not wanting to dwell. Everything seemed normal enough on the surface. Still she was certain some sort of clue or even proof of the town's supernatural nature was within reach. She plopped down on the bed and opened the first drawer she could reach. She found what she hoped for when she pulled out a diary. She hesitated for good measure. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark looked around the room fighting to swallow the lump in his throat. Buffy's mother's things were still scattered in the space. Her clothes were in boxes and art and smiling pictures still adorned the dressers and the walls; pictures of Buffy, Dawn and herself as they used to be. He also saw pictures of Willow and a woman he assumed was Tara, also smiling or staring at each other with love. He couldn't help but envy them, even if their love story ended so tragically. They had the freedom to be lovers in love, something Clark wasn't sure could ever happen to him. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you serious? That's 25$ more than last time!" 

"I'm sorry miss, I'm going to have to take care of some paying costumers now, if you don't mind…" 

Buffy smiled sweetly at the condescending clerk and got out of the line. 65$ round trip didn't sound too bad, except that she didn't have any credit cards and her account balance was owing. For months now Xander had been financing all their activities without ever complaining, but asking him to buy her a bus ticket to go to LA with Spike would be too much. She could never ask him such a thing. 

That left her with very limited options. She'd either have to suck it up and call her father, hitchhike or steal a car... And she was so NOT calling her father. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe opened the book to the first page. 

_New diary for a new life. Mom, Dawn and I are now residents of sunny Sunnydale where I'm going to have to make friends all over again. I'm hoping they'll think I'm cool 'cause I'm from Hell-A but I'm not going to hold my breath. Just because I burned down the gym at Hemery doesn't mean my old friends were going to ditch me. Why wouldn't she let me stay with Dad?? AH! I know. I already know. It's the whole 'v' thing. They think I'm crazy again and Dad can't deal. At least they're not screaming at each other anymore… God, I hate this! Dawn's crying herself to sleep every night, Mom is at that stupid gallery all day and there's nothing to do here. There's an airport, a university, a bunch of churches and cemeteries but only one Starbucks! Hello? Priorities? Mom heard there's a big mall on the other side of town though so maybe it's not completely hopeless. I would so be there right now but I have to baby-sit again. Why can't we hire someone? I am a teenager, I don't want to be responsible! I'm so tired of telling people that. I'm just a girl._

Chloe felt bad. She didn't really want to intrude on Buffy's personal life, she wanted to know about vampires. She pushed away thoughts of her own family and skipped ahead a dozen pages. 

_I've been waiting to see A all week. When he's there, I feel like I can deal. I feel like maybe this job isn't too bad. He's so cool. I love that he knows things; that I don't have to hide. I think he likes me, I hope he does. He looks so good I have trouble being cool._

Chloe turned some more pages. 

_I still can't believe he's one of them. I don't want to believe it. I know he's good. I know he loves me. Well, I don't, but I love him so much, he can't not feel the same way I do, right? He kissed me and it was so nice. I'll die if I have to fight him. I don't want to fight him! I want to be with him! Willow understands. She thinks he's good too. I can't believe this is happening to me! Ugh, how many times has that phrase come up in my short yet colorful life? I have no luck!_

Chloe heard a door shut and some shuffling feet in the hall. She turned at least 60 pages further, glancing nervously at the knob as she read on. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pete walked in from the bathroom having brushed his teeth and changed into boxers and a t-shirt. 

"So, what's up with you and Buffy? She's pretty hot and she seems to overlook the whole 'Jailbait' thing…" 

"It's not like that, she's my friend," Clark answered. 

"Right."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_It's been awhile since I've written, I'm Anne now. I'm back in LA and I'm working as a waitress. Isn't that bizarre? Can't be Buffy anymore. Don't want to be. I wouldn't have the strength... I sent my lover to Hell. There, I said it._

_He didn't remember anything; he couldn't possibly know why. He loved me and I drove a sword through him. He closed his eyes for me, trusting. Oh, my God. Nothing will ever be OK again. _

_'Got to go make another pot of coffee. My break is over. My feet hurt. This is my life now. It's better this way._

'Hell'. 'Swords'. Chloe sincerely hoped Buffy was using metaphors. The writing was primitive but she felt totally engrossed. She so badly wanted to read through everything but given her time constraints, she scanned forward to find a reference to anything clearly out of the ordinary. The words 'snake' and 'monster' caught her eye as she flipped to the middle. 

_That was some ceremony! The snake monster was bigger than I thought. Everyone fought well, and I liked watching the building burn to the ground. It was a fitting end to that hellhole: the Mayer ate Snyder and everything blew up. 19 students are dead. I'll try to work up the strength to stakeout the morgue tomorrow but I doubt we will. I want to sleep for a week and not think about it. _

_Oz pointed something out to us when it was over: We survived High school and technically, I only died the once! Yay me! *note: the Yay is completely sarcastic*_

Chloe read the reference to the Mayer, the Snake Monster and the dead students at graduation into her recorder. She added the part about Buffy possibly dying. 

_I called mom and Dawn and told them it was okay to come back to town. Dawn is not happy; she liked the hotel. I should have let them stay away, I'm sure Dawn won't shut up about it. Maybe I could stay at Willow's until school starts? _

_He really left tonight. I feel sick. My heart will jump out of my chest, my head is buzzing and I'm shaking as I'm writing this. Why does life have to be like this? I want to run after him but I can't. He's right. One day we would have risked being together again and who knows how that would have ended? Angel's gone, and he won't ever come back… I'm opting for minimum wigging, I'll pretend it isn't happening. _

_Right now Willow and Oz and Cordelia and Xander are waiting for me downstairs. We're going to watch movies. Shiny, happy movies. They don't want to leave me alone._

Curiously there were ruffled pages near the end of the book. 

_'I was in heaven'_ they said.

Chloe didn't know what to think; were the pages crinkled from dried tears? And what had she meant by heaven? Was Buffy even sane? She turned to the preceding page and furrowed her brow. It said: _What the hell does 'Death is your gift' mean?????_

Chloe reminded herself to keep an eye on Buffy, and not just because she may have something going on with Clark. 

Those two seemed to have a connection and Chloe was once again the second in line. Chloe had sometimes made herself feel better thinking Clark preferred brunettes, but now... 

There were no more entries after that. She closed the book, kicking herself for not having any self-restraint. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wow," Pete said, staring at a picture of Willow and Tara holding hands. 

"Are they?" 

"What?" 

"You know, gay. Lesbians..." He whispered. When Clark didn't answer, Pete got wide-eyed. "They aren't real lesbians, are they? 

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." 

"Oh come one, if there are any in Smallville they don't advertise. Come on man, did you get to see any girl on girl action?" 

"No I didn't, Pete. Willow's in England and Tara's…" 

"What?" 

"She's dead." 

"What? You're kidding me right?" 

"I wish I was," Clark said, seeing the smile drop from Pete's face. 

"What happened?" 

"They didn't say much. A stray bullet through a window." 

"A bullet?" 

"That's what they said." 

"So vampires AND shootings?" 

"I guess." 

"Please tell me it wasn't a hate crime, 'cause I'm not exactly the small town color." 

"I don't think so. They said stray bullet, so I'm guessing it's one that missed its target." 

"And I thought this was just another boring pueblito, man." 

"Me too." 

"Scary. So who are these fine ladies? Is this Dawn?" he asked, clearly interested. "I didn't get a good look at her tonight." 

"Yes that's Dawn, and that was Buffy's mother Joyce." 

"Was?" 

"She's um... dead too." 

"What?" Pete squealed, dropping the frame on the bed. 

"Aneurysm a couple of years ago." 

"And this was her room too?" 

"Yes." 

"And you're sure we're not better off outside in that tent?" Pete asked, half serious. 

Clark shrugged and went to check on Chloe. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy walked passed Xander's house, seeing him with her sister Dawn through the window. They were laughing and throwing things at each other. He would make such a great father, she thought. 

She still sometimes wished to be normal, but inevitably, logic would burst her bubble. If she had been normal her mother might never have moved them out here. If she had been normal she might still be in Los Angeles keeping up appearances. If she had been normal she wouldn't have Dawn, her sister, her blood daughter, her friend. If she had been normal and met Xander and Willow, she might have dismissed them. 

Sometimes she longed for a world where she had fallen in love with Xander and had a family with him… But a normal Buffy probably wouldn't have thought of getting married until she was very much older. A normal Buffy probably wouldn't appreciate his courage and his pain. 

She could see so much pain in him, even as he was giggling and making jokes. She didn't know how to deal with that so she never really brought it up. She caught herself on the verge of tears sometimes watching him. Was she the only one? 

Buffy was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't see Anya materialize beside her.

"They look like a family," the newly brown-haired demon said. 

"Yeah, they do. Xander has really been like a big brother to her growing up." 

"Are you going to go in?" 

"No, are you?" 

"No. I just wanted to make sure he was alright. I come here every night, just to see." Anya answered, wringing her hands uneasily. 

"That's nice Anya." 

"It's torture, that's what it is. Luckily my boss looks the other way, though, or else I would be toast." 

"You still love him." 

"Of course I do. I love him and I hate him. He made me trust him and betrayed me in the worst way." 

"I know how you feel." 

"I should be dancing on his entrails, is what I should be doing. I thought that once I became a demon again that I could put my love for him in the background. That I would feel strong enough to eventually leave him behind." 

"Nothing changed?" 

"My human aches and pains are gone. My love, my hate, my yearnings, nothing has changed, Buffy. I don't know what to do. I haven't even gotten any of my clothes out of there yet." 

"I thought demons didn't have souls," she whispered. 

"Buffy, I don't know about souls, but I am the same person I was when Xander left me at the altar. I cry the same tears," she whispered. Buffy expected her to sob melodramatically, but she never did. She was just hurting, and it rang true to the blonde. 

"Well," Buffy said, patting Anya's arm. "I gotta go." She took a few steps and turned back. "I believe you." 

She picked up the pace, walking, then dashed to the nearest wooded area. She ran through the trees trying to get her mind to stop spinning. 

As she ran as fast as she could, she wasn't thinking about anything consciously. She was only running and running and running. Her thoughts began to make sense, and come at her at a more acceptable pace. 

She asked herself questions she finally had the guts to face the answer to. 

Was she happy to be alive?

YES

Did she really hope to be normal?

No

Did she still love Angel?

She always would.

Could she ever be with him again?

Never.

Did she love Spike?

Yes, she did... she had. 

As what?

As a different sort of friend, as a work partner, as a lover and even as a foe. She loved his face, his body, his clothes, his accent, and his humor, how she could and couldn't understand him. She also respected the way he fought… But could she ever be in love with him? 

Did it matter? 

The answer didn't come so quickly, because she was still trying to comprehend what had happened. She was disgusted at him, at them both, at what they did together, at what they compromised inside themselves to be together. It was tough waking up and seeing where she'd been; how he'd treated her, how she'd treated him (and herself); life in general. 

What had scared her the most that night was that she had thought that as far as situations went, she would never have to be in that one. She could never have been just a woman physically caught off guard by a trusted male. She had the strength of men. She didn't think she would ever have to feel the panic of a million women rise up inside her as she realized the situation had spiraled way out of control. Up until then, she had been sure she had held the power in their relationship. 

The questions now were: was she wrong to want to put the past behind her? Was she still just avoiding dealing? 

'Oh God, Angel,' she thought as fear gripped her. She had been too distracted to understand he was in trouble and now the blame lay squarely on her shoulders. She couldn't just keep going without knowing what was going on. She wouldn't sleep- 

She abruptly stopped in front of Spike's crypt, heart racing wildly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Chloe? Can I come in?" Clark asked, wanting to use his X-ray vision but not daring to on the off chance she was changing.

"Come in" she replied, fluffing her hair and checking her reflection in the mirror. 

"Hi. I just came in to say goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said, disappointed.

"I am really glad to see you Chloe," he said, backing towards the door. 

"Why thank you, Clark Kent," she smiled, still sad he was so far away. She had been hoping that after all his efforts to win back her trust that they had actually gotten somewhere farther than this. Not so long ago they had been picnicking on the grass, laughing and she had had her head in his lap. What had she done now? 

Clark concentrated on the closet door and saw the weapons chest was intact. He did the same for the diary and saw the outline of a book in the sock drawer. He came back to reality when Chloe gestured annoyingly in front of his face. 

"Earth to Clark? What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, I was just thinking maybe I should put one of Buffy's pajamas in Dawn's room for when she gets back," he stated, going for the appropriate drawer. 

"You know where her pajamas are?" Chloe squealed, clearly thinking there was nothing appropriate about him having that information. 

"No," he recovered. 

"Then what are you doing?" 

"So what you're saying is that it would be wrong to snoop?" He asked, to cover his blunder. 

"Yes mom." 

"I'll be in the shower," he told her, hoping she would respect his new friends things. He touched her cheek and smiled at her before he left; he didn't like the distance that had re-emerged between them. He had really missed her. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You sure you won't have any more?" He asked the girl. 

"No, I'm stuffed." 

"Good, more for me." 

"Thought you'd say that."

"That's a nasty looking cut you've got there."

"I know! 20 stitches. It's my record," she said proudly.

"Try to let it heal before you patrol again, will ya?"

Dawn didn't say anything; she didn't want to think about why the cut had re-opened.

He plopped down on the couch beside her and turned off the television. 

"Look Dawnie…" he started. 

"It was different than I thought it would be," she sighed. She had really wanted to avoid this. 

"You're telling me. I thought we were all finally on the same page." 

"I'll never forgive him," she reassured Xander, her swollen hands gripping the blanket she had draped herself with. "I just, I didn't know how I would feel seeing him again and it turns out I was sort of relieved." 

The dark haired man closed his eyes and took a swig of beer. She could tell she had hurt him again. 

"I'll never understand why she let you get so close to him."

"She didn't want it. I used to ditch school, I would go to him and he would tell me stories and not coddle me so much. He'd tell me about Dru and Angel and Europe, or about Buffy and some of the things she'd fought but never told me about."

"So that makes him good?"

"No, but it made him my friend. I needed that. Way back when I didn't know anything he was nice to me. He didn't kill me on Parent-teacher night; when he came over to talk to Mom he would always pretend like he didn't know I was eavesdropping. As soon as she turned around though, he would wink or make funny faces. He was cool." 

"Those memories aren't real; they don't count. He's a rapist and a murderer," he said, trying not to feel bad for the look of pain that crossed her face. 

"I'm not just an energy blob, Xander. Look, sometimes I caught him following me when I was doing something I wasn't supposed to. He never called me on it; he was just there. He helped me find out I was the Key. He helped me when Mom died..." 

"If you say so." 

"I say so. He even helped me with homework sometimes. And did you know he came to meet my teachers three times when Buffy was dead?" She asked, flinching when the memories surfaced. Every time she thought she was through with it she would hear Buffy's speech in her head, she would see her turning from her and jumping off the tower. Her scars would itch as she flashed on a tearful Buffy singing that she had been in heaven. Spike had saved her sister's life that day. Dawn had been there. So how did he go from caring to attempted rapist? She didn't understand. Dawn choked on tears she didn't know were there and took a deep breath as Xander repeated his question. 

"Why?" 

"I got in trouble and he'd help smooth it over," she said, getting back to her conversation. 

"I don't get it Dawn, what about me? Where was I?" 

"You were working, and you had Anya, and well, since you've had her we haven't seen each other as much. We haven't spent anytime alone at all since I was... Since before." 

"Well, we are now. You need a buddy or a big brother, you come to me. Just tell me which clothes to wear, 'cause even though I've been wearing the suits, I've still got the Hawaiian shirts." 

"Okay." 

"What I really can't understand is why you don't think I'm cute anymore? I mean, you used to think I was all that," he said to embarrass her. She chuckled and hit him in the face with a pillow. 

She walked to the guest room hoping the nightmares would stay away. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark was enjoying everything about his shower; even the super-smell wasn't a problem in this house. He was more comfortable in the Summers home than he was at his aunt and uncles. He was starting to dream about moving in for the rest of the summer. Here, he wouldn't have to eat tofu and hummus, he wouldn't have to make awkward small talk and watch lawyer shows, he wouldn't get dizzy from all the powder and spray disinfectants. Best of all he wouldn't have to hide his abilities. Well, he would have to hide, but only until Pete and Chloe left. 

Clark turned the shower off and stepped out to dry himself. He used his ex ray vision to check on Pete, who was dozing off and then on Chloe who was trying to open the window and getting frustrated. Clark smiled at the funny face she was making until he saw what looked like a robed man climbing up the tree outside Buffy's room. He ran out when he saw the distinctive knife in its right hand.


	13. How did we get here?

THE STRANGER SUMMER

BY: ANN OF MIDNIGHT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was too much. He was shaking, wishing he could hit or kick or break something, wishing he could scream at the top of his lungs. His eyes were bloodshot and he was completely disheveled; he could even smell his own bad breath. He was so tired and just wanted it all to stop. Xander found himself in a familiar position, staring at the contents of his refrigerator. 

He also caught himself wondering where all the beer had gone, again. He froze. THAT scared him. 

He forced himself to shut the door. 

He WAS turning into his father. He hadn't married Anya because he was afraid of that very thing and now because of his stupid cold feet she was a demon again and he was alone in front of his refrigerator wishing to all the gods for another six-pack to knock him out. 

'Zeppo, thou art a spectacular failure, no matter what anyone says.'

-------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy stared at the door for several minutes, breathless. She knew Spike was in the crypt, but something was nagging at her. He felt different somehow. 

She walked in on him sitting curled up on himself in a corner. He stood up, dusted himself off and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Slayer," Spike said, taking a step towards her but stopping, keeping his distance.

"Spike," she replied. 

"What can I do for you?"

"Cut it out, Spike, I didn't come here for small talk."

"Have you got an answer for me, then?"

"I'll go."

"Good," he shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. 

Buffy was startled to see how relieved he looked. "So, how were you planning on us getting there?"

"Old bike's low on petrol-"

"I'll see what I can do," she said, looking around uncomfortably. 

"Thanks," he whispered sincerely, looking her in the eye for the first time. 

She held her breath, caught up in the moment, in what she saw in his eyes. He fidgeted with the edge of his duster.

Buffy felt like they were in a school play, like both of them suddenly forgot how to act natural. She tried to shake it off and almost choked. The silence became deafening. She straightened up and turned to leave.

"Meet me at the house at 10 tomorrow night, I should be ready by then," she told him, sounding almost chipper. This was all wrong. Why was she nervous?

"I'll be outside."

"Great," she answered evenly.

"What about your um- job?" He asked, shuffling his feet.

"I'm going to loose it," she stated, holding the door open. "Spike, are you okay?" She asked, his gaunt, unwashed and tormented look bothering her more than she would like.

"No. I'm not." 

Buffy was tempted to ask him what had changed. Why he looked so bad, if he was even eating, but what came out of her mouth was: "good."

-------------------------------------------------------------

The bathroom door was knocked down and although he used the knob, Buffy's door easily came off its hinges as well. 

"Step away from the window, Chloe," he said, stepping in front of her.

"What are you doing Clark? Are you trying to kill me?" She squealed. "Look, you broke Buffy's door. And OH MY GOD you're naked!" She pointed, jumping back.

Something with X's for eyes reached for the window as Chloe filled newly-arrived-Pete in on Clark's crazy behavior. The friends understood something was there even though Clark's massive frame blocked the view out the window.

"Stay back," Clark motioned as he stared down the wannabe intruder. Curiously, the seemingly blind entity slowly climbed back down the tree. Clark was startled when his ex-ray vision showed there were two more of these things under the tree, all in black robes, each wielding a knife. 

They seemed to be staring up at him, calmly. 

Clark felt his friends come closer.

"Who were you asking to stay back, man?" 

"Is everything okay, are we safe?" 

"It's gone. Whatever it was," he lied. "Still, I suggest we all sleep in the other room tonight." He covered himself with a stuffed pig as he walked passed them and back into the bathroom, hoping not to die of embarrassment. 

Chloe looked like she was going to protest but Pete couldn't be certain if she was sad Clark was getting dressed or because she didn't want to sleep in the other room.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Xander stood under the cold shower with his clothes on, looking at the wall and the water falling. He needed a vacation. And as they probably all did, a great deal of therapy. 

He had only just started banging his head against the wall when he heard a popping sound behind him. He didn't turn around. 

"Xander, you're scaring me. You're supposed to be okay so I can be mad at you and not want to hold you in my arms."

"I really blew it An. Didn't I?"

"Well, anyone could tell you that, letting me go like you did... What were you thinking?" She scoffed. "Are you happier now?" She asked, not getting an answer. Her voice cracked and squeaked, "I still don't understand how you could do that to me." 

-------------------------------------------------------------

Clark dressed in record speed, his cheeks flushed. He'd have to get Xander in here to help him put the doors back up. He kept up with the trio of X-guys until they practically disappeared when he blinked. 

This was sure to be a longer night than he had anticipated.

When he got into the bedroom, his friends had arranged a sleeping bag for him on the floor. It made sense; he definitely took up the most room. He smiled, "just like old times right?"

"Yep, except we're all a little old for sleepovers, dontcha think?"

Clark hadn't accepted to sleep in anyone's presence since he had realized he occasionally woke up floating. He smiled uneasily.

Chloe sat up in bed. "So Clark, what was that at the window?"

"I don't know Chloe; it was something though."

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait for Buffy to come home, stay together… We'll be fine guys."

"Clark," Peter practically whispered. "How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"You weren't in the room." Chloe and Pete both stared at him, waiting for an answer. "And the doors Clark, they're both broken." Clark had hoped Chloe had been too flustered to notice and that Pete hadn't seen him run out.

"Adrenaline mostly. Plus this house …it's really shoddy workmanship. Buffy told me. It's a joke around here. Sorry I didn't give you the head's up."

"Clark, be honest with me for once," Chloe started. 

Clark gulped. 

"Do you get premonitions?"

-------------------------------------------------------------

When Xander turned around he was surprised that Anya hadn't gone. He wiped the water from his face and turned off the tap.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Aren't you supposed to be in another realm or something? What are you even doing here?"

"Nothing. You looked like you needed a friend so I figured what the hell; I'll just resume hating you later."

"You're my friend?"

"Well, I was, wasn't I? We weren't always copulating, there were conversations and discussions about a myriad of subjects and we shared drinks and even had outings to watch sporting events."

"Sorry, you're right," Xander said, stepping out of the bath. 

"Of course I am. That's a stupid thing to say." 

She put a towel around him. Their proximity screamed of intimacy. They both held their breath, their eyes locked. 

Anya abruptly stepped back and wrenched her hands from him. 

"It's unbearable Xander. My chest is going to explode. What are we doing?"

"I thought it was for the best," he whispered.

"That's my toothbrush Xander," she cried, pointing at the counter where it was intertwined with his. "That's my toothbrush," she sobbed again. 

He stepped forward to hold her and they sank to the floor. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

"I belonged here," she whispered. "I belonged here with you."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy had gone back to Xander's house and slipped a note under the door asking him to Revello Drive for a meeting in the afternoon. When she finally got home, she realized she only had a couple of hours left before her shift started. She raised an eyebrow when she read the post-it note on her door. It simply stated 'Sorry'. She understood when she tried to open said door and it came right off. That's when Clark walked out into the hall. 

"Where is everyone?"

"In your mother's room. They're all fine but something did come up."

"What?"

"Humanoid, X's for eyes. Black robe, freaky knife, climbing up the tree to your bedroom."

"Think you could draw it?"

"I guess."

"Good," she said, laying out her embarrassing work clothes and stretching. "We can research at the meeting when I get home from work."

"Sure, and listen about the door..."

"It's fine Clark."

"There's also the bathroom door..."

"We'll think about that later."

"So will you be okay? You haven't slept yet."

"I figured I would try and get an hour in before I got in the shower," she said, "except I need like 10 Tylenol before my head explodes."

"Oh, okay, well I'll leave you to that."

"Keep me company?"

"Sure," Clark said, watching as she swallowed a handful of pills. 

She shrugged. "I'm the Slayer, you should see how many needles the dentist has to stick in me before I'm actually numb. It's frightening."

Buffy sat up on her bed, stretching her legs out while Clark sat awkwardly on the end. Buffy rolled her eyes. She patted the space next to her, "so, I need to ask you something."

"Shoot," he said, trying moving across the bed to sit next to her.

"Do you think you could fill in for me for awhile?"

"What?"

"If I left for a day, or two, or more?"

"Now?"

"I have to go, Clark. I need to be in LA, like, last month."

"When?"

"After my shift."

"I thought you were working tomorrow?"

"I'm going to loose my job. They already said I couldn't take any more personal days," she explained, trying to massage the stress out of her neck.

"But" 

"Clark, it's not fair to the others, I get it." 

"But it's important," Clark said, scooting closer so their sides touched. The distance between them seemed strange and uncalled for.

"But how are they supposed to know?"

"Buffy, how are you supposed to pay for everything?" He asked, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

"On the bright side, I won't smell like grease or have hat hair for awhile," she said, evading the issue. "Everything has to come second to the slaying."

"But how are you supposed to do it? You have a sister and a full time job and bills and you're supposed to be the one girl in the entire world... And how are you supposed to know if something happens in Africa, or Australia or Connecticut for that matter?"

"I don't get to travel, I have to guard the Hellmouth. This is my town and my responsibility. Most end of the worldy stuff goes down here anyway. There are others who help though, like Angel in LA. He's the one I'm going to find," she said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Xander moved back and coughed. Anya abruptly stopped sobbing and held her breath. They both stood up and tried to straighten themselves as best they could.

Xander had to smile, though nothing about the situation was funny. 

"How did we get here?" He asked her, shaking his head. "How did we end up here?" He repeated, motioning to his soaked clothes dripping onto the floor. "This is crazy."

"I don't know," she whispered, biting her thumbnail.

"I still love you, you know?" He told her, holding out his hand. "I wanted to say that I still love you."

She managed to takes his hand and collapse against him in a fit of tears. She clutched his shirt and let him rock her.

"I'm really sorry An. It's all my fault," he said as he stroked her hair and kissed her temple. "I'm so sorry."

Anya took several deep breaths to calm herself and looked at Xander. All the questions she had evaporated, all the doubts and insults ran out of her head as she closed her eyes and the gap between their lips. 

The moment was gone when they were startled by a knock at the door.

"Xander? Are you in there? Look, I really need to pee, are you going to be long?"

Xander turned toward the door to tell Dawn he'd be out in a minute when Anya disappeared. 


	14. In the still of the night

THE STRANGER SUMMER

BY: ANN OF MIDNIGHT

----------------------

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"So, do you mind if I asked... about Angel? I've been hearing his name around but Xander says he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Angel was my first love."

"And he fights, you know, like you?"

"He's been out there helping the helpless in Los Angeles since I graduated High School. At least he was before he disappeared."

"So, is it bad? The disappearance I mean."

"All I know is that he's not dead."

"So how come you guys broke it off? I mean, if he already knew about demons and everything- did you not love each other anymore?" Clark asked.

"The love was still there, but too much happened and in the end we were just too different."

"Because you're the Slayer?"

"That, and because Angel's a two hundred and fifty year old vampire."

"You're kidding."

"No."

"Oh wow I..."

"With a soul, I should say, because there's a very big difference. At first I thought it would be ideal. He was mysterious and attractive and he knew about the whole Slayer thing. One of the best things about it was that I really wasn't that much stronger than him."

Clark understood the strength issue completely. Always having to hold back was tiring at the best and could be heartbreaking or terrifying at the worst.

"Being with a normal guy is a little scary when you know you can behead someone with your bare hands. Anyway, all it really comes down to is that feeling in the pit of my stomach and the way I felt when I first met Angel. I know it will never happen again. This may sound weird considering all our differences but the whole beginning of our relationship I felt like we were on equal footing," Buffy sighed wistfully and Clark took her hand. "It didn't last very long."

"So what happened?"

"I turned 17."

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Xander had hoped to pass out but he kept tossing and turning, his level of discomfort at an all time high. It didn't help that he had rarely slept in his bed alone. He realized that having Willow to take care of had made life temporarily easier for him, but he was once again haunted by the specter of Anya and their relationship.

He was finding it extremely hard to deal with the fact that he could be sleeping well-loved in his wife's arms instead of in an empty bed with the knowledge that he had been the one to screw up.

Now, he was relieved to have talked, but he wasn't sure if it had been constructive to break down with her like that; not since he had found out she was a demon again. They had both made rash decisions and now there was no way back to where they had been.

It sounded slightly dramatic but he knew the world was worse for it.

-----------

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Clark stood outside the broken door as Buffy finished up in the bathroom. She emerged fully clothed wielding a towel and a stuffed animal. She started drying her hair. "What was mister Gordo doing in the bathroom?"

"Oh, you don't want to know," he told her, praying she would never find out about him running into her room naked and using her stuffed pig to cover up.

Thankfully she changed the subject. "I know what you're thinking: Why bother washing off the Slayer grime; so I can better absorb the Uber-grease?"

"I'm sure it's not a total waste. See? You've got your cap to protect your hair."

"Ah, the bane of my existence," she replied, looking at her Doublemeat hat. "This is the last day of our acquaintance," she told it solemnly; then broke out a big smile. "I guess as much trouble as it is going to be, I'm probably relieved I don't have to work there anymore."

"How come?"

"It's hard. It's really hard; like, normal hard I mean," she admitted, but never elaborated. She took a deep breath and delved back into a more painful subject. "So why all the questions about my relationship?"

"I was curious."

"About what?" She asked making noise while going through her purse.

"I guess I wanted to know because I'm different too."

Buffy stopped what she was doing, put her things by her door and sat back down with Clark on the bed. She didn't know what to say, not really. The subject was very delicate, especially considering Clark's extreme physical strength and emotional vulnerability. Sure he had managed to keep his friends guessing and his crushes at arm's length but had a few years of High School left.

Clark lived in the real world where people were already suspicious of his abilities.

She remembered what she felt like before she was called. She tried to think of what she would have done if she had had a friend like Clark back at Hemery. Would she have caught on? Frankly, she would have probably tried to become his girlfriend at all costs and ignored the rest. hum. Seriously, Clark's friend Chloe was probably pushing him not only because of her journalistic habits but because she couldn't imagine what could be so bad she couldn't be trusted with it. Buffy had heard about the meteor rocks and Chloe's 'Wall of weird'. Ridiculous pang of jealousy aside, Chloe was probably a decent candidate for the truth if she was as good a person as Clark believed. And Pete could be as big a blessing to Clark as Xander had been to her. Could' being the operative word.

Buffy hesitated a long time before saying anything. She did not consider herself anywhere near knowledgeable enough in this area to give any advice, but she would just have to give it her best shot. Who else could poor Clark possibly talk to?

"Even after everything that's happenned, my heart would say that if you find **that** someone you love, don't let go. Life is too short, at least for me. Still, because we go looking for trouble there are always going to be loved ones in harm's way. That definitely has to be a concern. Obviously, you could try and not help people, but from what you've told us, it's about as impossible as me not helping."

"My parents used to tell me that it wasn't my job to save the world, but I'm starting to figure out that with great power comes great responsibility, whether you're called as part of a cosmic plan or a your freak powers are a fluke."

"Hey, you saw _Spiderman_?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Well, at least you have some form of social life. Look, life is life. Since my mother died, I've had to believe that the people I love are in danger just by being alive. Maybe I just say that so I'll feel better but there's always a chance someone'll get hit by a bus or something and then-"

"I was hit by a bus once."

"See, it really can happen to anybody! Now, I know you've told us over and over that you'd never tell your friends your secret, but never is a long time. Situations change, people find things out. You're going to have to decide to tell or not to tell. Now if you decide you want to **be** with someone then you're not going to have a choice because of your strength alone. They wouldn't be making an informed decision without all the facts."

"But what if they don't want to know all the facts? And then you have to think about them telling, or being coerced into telling or the less appealing but still possible option they may sell you out willingly..."

"So you have thought about this, huh?"

"Everyday. So, have you ever gone out with a normal guy?"

"I did for awhile, sure. Turns out he had his share of secrets too."

"But he was human."

"Yes he was. I had to hold back a lot."

"You mean in your conversations?"

"That too, but I meant in bed, mostly. You really have to concentrate on not losing too much control and it gets really tricky," Buffy said, _at least it does if the sex is any good,_ she thought.

"I know, just kissing can be so nice and my instincts... my instincts have been telling me that the more I wait, the less I'll want to go slow when I get the opportunity. It just gets so intense, and I haven't even gotten close to anyone."

Buffy took his hand.

"I know, and I totally understand Clark. I can relate."

"What if I can't go through life alone? What if I get to the point where I need it so much I don't care about the dangers anymore?"

"Clark, look at me." Buffy turned. "If that happens, you can come find me."

Clark blushed crimson. "You can't mean that if... you know, I could come to you, can you?"

"As long as I'm alive you can come to me for anything. I'll understand. We'll figure out what to do then."

Clark wanted to kiss Buffy so badly. He had always felt so alone with his secret. Now he not only had friends that were okay with it, but he had one friend who understood as much as he could ever have hoped anyone to; the fact that she was an attractive woman blurred the lines for Clark.

His hand went up to cup her face. He didn't know how he could express what he was feeling at the moment.

"We're not alone."

"No, we aren't," she said, grabbing his hand away from her cheek and squeezing it. Buffy looked at the time and rested her head on Clark's shoulder. Work would start soon and she had alot to think about.

-----------

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Chloe awoke to someone mumbling her name. It took her a moment to realize where she was and the fact that she couldn't move because her friend Pete had his arm around her.

"Pete? Are you awake?"

"What?" He replied groggily.

"Why are you spooning with me?" She whispered.

"'Cause I love you, baby."

"What?" Chloe yelped, throwing off the covers and turning to face him.

Pete woke up in a start, embarrassed.

"Look Chloe, I'm sorry, please don't freak out," he pleaded.

"Don't freak out? When were you going to tell me this?"

Pete looked like he wanted her to drop it, but she couldn't. "How long?"

"Since I first saw you. You're my Lana," he told her, referring to his best friend's infatuation with the town princess.

"Wow," Chloe sighed, putting her head in her hands. How had she not noticed this?

"Don't be mad at me, I just wasn't ready to be rejected."

"How do you know I would have rejected you?"

"The answer to that question is sleeping on the floor."

Chloe momentarily panicked thinking they were having this whole conversation in front of Clark, but all she saw down there was bedding.

"He's gone."

"What a surprise."

"Pete, what do you want me to say?"

"What I want you to say is totally different than what I expect you to say."

"Pete, I never thought about it, I never realized..."

"And I never thought you would. Well, I hoped that maybe, but I knew that my chances were slim to none," he admitted.

"I am so sorry."

"I know.

"All this time we were going through the same thing"

"Chloe, let's just go back to sleep," he said, turning away from her and covering up. She knew that he was silently pleading for her not to rub it in.

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"Something happened earlier tonight. Chloe asked me if I had premonitions."

"What did you say?"

"I said it was complicated, but it's something like that. I figured it might get them off my back since I'm always running off and saving people and bursting in at the right time."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks," he said, nudging her. " So you really think I should tell?"

"I don't really know, I never had to tell, everyone just kept finding out."

"I don't know what to do, Buffy. My life is so complicated!"

"High school can really suck."

"It's the least of my worries. On one hand I've got my parents and they expect certain things from me. They think of it as their job to protect me and I don't want to let them down. On the other hand there are my friends and whatever I do I can't be fair to everyone or be right all the time. I love them all so much sometimes I think that the way I feel about my parents and Pete, Chloe, Lana and Lex is so strong it has to be alien. I can't imagine how I'll feel about them if I'm not constantly having to keep them away."

"I think it's safe to say that we would do anything for our friends. Die for them, even."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I keep bringing up bad memories for you. Why don't we stop talking and you can get an hour of sleep before you go to work."

"My alarm isn't set and-"

"I'll wake you up.

"Will you stay?"

"Sure."

Buffy watched as Clark lay down on the bed, and put her head on his shoulder. His arm held her tightly; reassuring her that everything would be all right. Buffy had a lot to be preoccupied about and she was very glad to have Clark's support.

-----------

-----------

-----------

Chloe had been trying to get to the downstairs bathroom when she spied Clark and Buffy lying in bed. Her heart sank because even though he was reasonably covered up and the blond was fully clothed, she had never seen Clark look so peaceful and relaxed.

Chloe suddenly felt like she couldn't breath. She doubled back to make a quick grab for her purse and headed straight out the front door.

END PART 14


	15. In the still of the night, part 2

THE STRANGER SUMMER

BY: ANN OF MIDNIGHT

* * *

_Author's note: I decided to just write the damn thing and let it take me wherever it wants to go. Trying to fit the story into the outline I had previously thought up is not working. Hopefully the fic won't flounder too much. And feel free to request things. I think I know where all of this is going, but it wouldn't hurt to have your imput. And I was never going to really pair Buffy but if any of you want to see her paired, tell me whith who; I'll see what I can do._

* * *

The smell of cigarette smoke hit her as soon as she was out the door. Seeing no one, she walked out onto the sidewalk and decided she would head for the children's park she had seen a few streets away. 

She walked with intent, willfully blocking out everything she had learned only a few hours ago. All she could think of was Clark intertwined with this woman she'd just met and already knew she couldn't compete with. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to kick something or start sobbing. 

Things had been going so well for her back in Metropolis; she had been useful and sure of herself and respected. She loved being in the thick of things and felt so comfortable in her vibrant hometown and the Planet offices. 

She'd never felt like a small town girl but both Clark and Pete had made her move to Smallville easier. Pete had been a very good friend, but it was the prospect of seeing Clark that had gotten her up every morning. It was also because of Clark that she had that constant pain in her heart.

She couldn't even remember a time when she hadn't loved Clark; it was a part of her, a fact of life. Although she tried to tell herself that it was no big deal and that she could handle it, she knew it was untrue. Every time she got her hopes up about them she was reminded that Clark didn't want or trust her. 

She was feeling like a complete asshole for visiting. She was a like a mental patient banging her head against a wall and wondering why she always ended up with the same result- a massive headache. Or heartache, as the case may be.

"And where exactly are you going?" A man asked, stepping up beside her. 

She'd seen him earlier. 

"None of your business," she told him firmly, walking on past. She stopped dead in her tracks when she remembered what had transpired in the cemetery. Clark's friend had wanted to kill him, by driving a stake through his heart. He was a vampire, if such things really existed, and she was right next to him. 

"Does Buffy know you're out here?" He asked her less forcefully, taking a step back. 

"Does she know you are?"

"Maybe."

"Leave me alone," she reiterated, defiantly continuing her walk. 

"You don't know what you're asking, ducks."

"I just want to be alone."

"I can't just let you be. If Buffy found out I'd let you leave…"

"Buffy. What is it with this woman that makes her the center of everything around here?"

"She's… well, she's…" 

"Sleeping with Clark." 

"Is she now?" He asked, his whole body slumping forward and his gaze shifting down. 

"I just caught them!"

"And they let you run out of the house when it's still pitch dark?"

"No, I walked by the door, they didn't wake up."

"Oh. OH! They were actually sleeping." 

"He was in his underwear!"

"Really?" He whispered, looking almost embarrassed.  
  
"And a t-shirt." 

"Really?" He asked, perking up some.

"Is she... was she your girlfriend?" She walked on, keeping the pace brisk so as to keep distracted. Could vampires even have girlfriends?

"No, nothing like that."

Spike was what they called him, she remembered. Why was he still following her? "I heard some of what you were saying in the cemetery, I didn't understand everything. It looked pretty intense."

"I didn't see you there."

"You were sort of fixated on her."

"So, who's this Clark? Is he your boyfriend?"

"No." She took a few steps back and started looking around uneasily, "did I hear Buffy say you tried to rape her?"

"Oh, hey look, it's not like that."

"You didn't try to rape her?" 

"I assure you I'm not dangerous. And she's stronger than me!"

"I think I'd better continue my walk alone," she asked, forcing the panic back down her throat. 

"I can't let you do that. Buffy-"

"Buffy can go jump in the lake!"

"Watch that language, little girl," he said sarcastically.

"Fuck you."

"Feel better?"

"Sort of."

"So you're really a vampire?"

"Yes."

Chloe didn't know where to start. She had so many questions, she forgot about running.

"You drink blood."

"Yes."

"From people?"

"It's been ages. So can I walk you back now … ?"

"Chloe," she supplied, "my name is Chloe Sullivan."

"So, can I walk you back now, Chloe?"

"I don't know. What's wrong, why do you keep looking around?"

"Something's off."

"What? Are you afraid of the sun coming up?"

"No, I've got about 74 minutes before that happens."

"Impressive. So what is it?"

"I don't know."

"Hey, is your skin cold, or room temperature?"

* * *

"Clark?"

"M-huh."

"Are you awake?"

"You've still got 25 minutes before it's 4, Buffy."

"That's great. Look, I'm going to have to lie on top of you if you want me to sleep because it's hard to do with half my body dangling."

"What?"

"You're floating."

Clark wasn't surprised, he felt so good when he had fallen asleep with her had felt like he was floating already. He slowly opened his eyes. Buffy was smiling at him. "See."

"Wow, I usually crash right away."

"Well, not tonight." 

"This is really nice."

"It's a nifty trick, but if you don't mind I think I should go and have breakfast."

Clark and Buffy plummeted down, the legs of the bed breaking under the force.

They lay there, dazed. Clark realized he had broken a third major object in her house. "I'm so sorry." This was getting ridiculous.

* * *

Pete, who had dozed off, woke up with the noise and realized Chloe hadn't come back to bed. He checked the time and shrugged the covers off.

* * *

"I don't know how we're going to explain this to your friends; termites?" 

"Did I do something wrong?" Clark asked Buffy. She was acting sort of uncomfortable, fumbling with the bed and fiddling with the contents of her workbag. She had even stopped looking at him in the face.

"Not a thing," she said, continuing to avoid his gaze. "Besides the fact that our lives are ridiculously complicated, we live in different states and you're sixteen? You're just way too tall and good-looking and you're actually decent... I really can't deal with wanting you right now," she mumbled. He obviously heard the whole diatribe loud and clear. 

"Didn't you just tell me that Angel was 250 when you were 16?"

"Couldn't you turn that ear off?" She pleaded.

"Sorry."

"And Angel was two hundred and forty two, I think. Actually I'm not too clear on that."

"He was so old he couldn't remember his age?"

"Hey! Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea that we get too close."

"You're right, everyone I love gets hurt anyway, right?"

* * *

"Duck!" Spike shouted, pushing the shocked girl to the ground. She narrowly avoided a knife but had the wind knocked out of her. When she looked up, a neck had been snapped and the body was falling at her feet. The sick thud it made as the head hit the pavement made her turn away to throw up. 

When her body lurched forward to get rid of her dinner she narrowly avoided a second slashing. She choked as she dragged herself into nearby bushes.

Spike was getting frustrated; the freaks seemed to have a one-track mind. He was fighting the two remaining humanoids but they weren't fighting him, they were trying to get passed him. This was not the type of fight he'd ever enjoyed. It's like they were robots: no hearts, no passion, no guts. He wasn't able to engage them; he knew that he could be bouncing around in a clown costume and it wouldn't change anything to them. He wasn't whom they were there for. So what was it with the girl? Did they need a virgin for something?   
  
Spike twisted around, breaking an arm and throwing the thing onto the pavement, judo-style. It only took a split second for the other to stab him in the back and plow past him, making a run for the girl. 

Chloe had seen what had transpired and started to run but the last of the black robes was catching her easily. 

Spike jerked up, never mind the spurting blood, ran and jumped onto his foe, buying Chloe a bit more time. 

"Hey Clark, you can't hurt me. That's not what I meant." 

"I could hurt you, Buffy, we both know that."

Buffy waved him off that subject. There was no reason for him to start beating himself up this early, especially if he was going to live as long as she suspected he would. "I like you a lot but I went too far. I need someone to take me away from my life, to make me feel normal and understood and just now I felt like you did that. I'm your friend, I don't want to lose that because I'm weak right now. " 

Their conversation was interrupted by a passing Pete. The boy smirked while taking in the appearance of the bed, but stopped short of wagging his eyebrows at Clark. He leaned into the door frame. 

"Have you seen Chloe?" 

"No, we dozed off; what happened, is she not in your room?"

"No. She went to the bathroom awhile ago and I thought she'd be more comfortable if I was sleeping when she got back. We had a talk... It didn't go very well."

* * *

She got to the Summers residence and stopped dead in her tracks. Three more of those things were waiting for her nonchalantly by the tree. Her terrified scream rang out.

Before Buffy could even say, "she's outside," Clark was already gone and standing in front of Chloe.

"Stay back," he shouted. To his surprise, they did. "What do you want?" He tried, but got no answer.

"Clark, what's going on?" Buffy asked, stepping out onto her porch. 

"They were attacking Chloe," he replied, pointing to her attackers, except that they had vanished. 

"They were right there," Chloe confirmed. 

"What's that?" Pete chimed in from the doorway, pointing to something dragging itself across the street. 

"Spike," Buffy said. 

"He helped me," Chloe said. 

Chloe's legs gave out and Clark picked her up, walking her back to the house. Pete kept his distance.

Buffy looked at the time and went to sit by Spike who had once again lit up.

"So what happened?" 

"Got stabbed. Bleeding a lot. Broke my leg."

"Ew, I can see that. What happened?"

"X for eyes. Black robes. Seemed to be fixated on the girl."

"So, you think I should be grateful you're stalking me?"

"You really sleeping with Captain America over there?"

"He's nice."

"Right," he said, inhaling deeply.

"Nothing happened ok?" She told him. When he smiled at her knowingly, she stood up and through her hands up. "Oh gross Spike, did you smell me?"

"Well, I'd better get going, I'll need time to drag myself to my crypt."

She watched him attempt to move for awhile. He gave up and finished his cigarrette, sighing as he looked up to the night sky.

Buffy made a decision. "Stop being so dramatic. Get into the basement, we'll leave at sunset."

Spike paused and looked down, the knife had pierced all the way through and his shirt and jeans were soaked in blood. He had no real choice but to accept, if he wanted to survive. "Thanks."

A breeze blew back her hair and she caught a whiff of the vampire. "Speaking of smelling, you need a shower."

"I don't…" He whispered. 

For some reason she felt certain he meant he didn't deserve a shower. She was finding Spike more and more unsettling.

"Look, I'm the one who'll be riding to L.A. with you tonight; I want my ride to be gag free, if you don't mind."

Spike tried to get up but failed, he hadn't fed since he'd left Los Angeles 2 days earlier and before that it had been some goat blood he had gotten off an African healer- in Africa.

"I'm so not carrying you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Buffy bent down and offered her shoulder for support. They walked slowly to the house where she invited him in.


	16. In my basement

Clark was pacing in the hallway, teeth clenched, trying not to eavesdrop on Buffy. Obviously this was easier said than done what with the teen's super hearing.

She couldn't get herself to move as he got in the shower. Neither one of them had uttered a word, the memories of what had happened between them in that room still much too raw.

Buffy had turned on the shower herself as he painfully stripped off his dirty and bloody clothes.

She expected to be bombarded with flashes and feelings from that day but got nothing. She felt anxious and uneasy and the loud buzzing of the floodlights felt like it was coming from inside her head. She couldn't stop staring; it was too surreal.

He didn't look the same to her. He didn't feel the same. He was weak and thin and pale in a way that made her think he was ill. He looked so tired. He hobbled into the tub and she finally allowed herself to take a full breath and swallow.

After a few minutes she stopped searching. There was obviously nothing either of them could say.

As she nervously looked around the room, she unconsciously picked up his clothes, catching a look at herself in the mirror. That was ludicrous; she wasn't going to do his laundry, not after what had happened. Not ever. She was just going to have to stand there until he was done because she couldn't seem to get herself to move beyond the broken door.

"How are you healing?" She ventured, her voice squeaking.

He turned the shower off and stepped out, struggling on his broken leg.

"I'm not," he answered through clenched teeth, watching the towel she had given him turn pink.

"You have any blood back at the crypt?"

"Clem bought some. I haven't…. yet."

They stood there staring at each other, the intimacy of their situation weighing heavily.

"I have to go to work," she said, shaking her head to get back to reality. She took one last look at him and walked out.

Clark met her in the hall.

"Chloe'll be okay. Pete's in there with her now."

"Great," she said curtly, barely registering Clark had even spoken. "Look, he needs blood, lots of it; I need you to go to his crypt. It's in the cemetery we were in earlier."

"Which one is it?"

"You can't miss it, Clark, it's the one with the fridge," she told him without humor.

"Right. Buffy?" He said tenderly, grabbing her arm as she walked past.

"See the uniform? I have to go to work," she reiterated, not turning to meet his gaze. She snatched her bag from her room and ran out of the house trying her damnedest not to burst into tears.

* * *

Clark had stayed away after saving her, again. She could hear him pacing the hall, every step he took resonating in her head. She was glad when he finally stopped.

Pete was, of course, trying to convince her to leave. It would have been annoying had she not been privy to the fact that he was in love with her; now, his deep and genuine concern for her wellbeing was touching.

She still wanted to throttle him for keeping his mouth shut though, but that was beside the point.

Needless to say there was no way she was going to leave, at least not until she understood what was going on. Her heart was still beating wildly and she was very queasy. This type of brush with death was not exhilarating like going after a story you know could get you in hot water.

It had been extremely frightening.

She needed to have at least a semblance of control over herself and the situation and she needed to try to keep things in perspective. How else would she be able to be the kind of journalist she wanted to be? She would have to go against heads of corporations and politicians and famous people and their posses.

She heard the bathroom door crash to the ground, followed by a strangled: 'bloody hell'. She watched the vampire named Spike slowly walk past the room, a tiny towel wrapped around his waist, dirty clothes tucked under his arm. He was limping and bleeding everywhere. He didn't even glance her way.

She was going to get the truth out of them if she had to move in.

* * *

At first she was alternating thinking about Spike and the fact that Clark's nosy friend had been the target of an attack but when she burnt herself walking past the grill for the third time, she had to push it all out of her mind. She had to get through this one day. And wasn't that the story of her life? One day at a time- one moment even, sometimes?

She was to never take something for granted. Nothing was ever sure or certain or what it seemed. She would never have anything figured out and she would just have to ride the wave… It seemed lately all she was doing was trying to let go. Of grudges, of feelings, of pre-conceived notions, of dreams and of a lot of the rules she had been trying to follow. She needed to break free off all that was holding her back from being okay with herself and what she REALLY did for a living. She just would have to learn to appreciate the adventure, to live on the fly. She needed to think outside the box and fashion her life to fit her (own) needs.

When she dropped an order of drinks bumping into the manager she knew she would have to do better at not thinking.

As the sun came up and more and more people appeared for their morning double-egg-muffins and coffee her mind went on autopilot. This was the last day of her double life. She'd have the rest of her debt-filled existence to over-think.

* * *

Pete was pretty much resigned to his fate. He had no choice but to stay in the freaky-ass town filled with supernatural psychos. Nothing he could do about it. The glint in Chloe's eyes had returned and now made her look almost frightening. She kept saying "Vampires Pete! Real ones! Do you know what this means?" and he kept resisting the urge to say "yeah, it means we're dead". She kept asking him questions about what he though of it and taking notes. He knew she was imagining herself breaking the story for the world. Of course, she not only wanted to tell the world but she wanted to prove it with science, witness accounts and have an exclusive interview with the real thing. She wanted to know about government and law-enforcement cover-ups. About demons and slayers and cemeteries.

He didn't have anything against the blonde dude saving his girl, but he was not happy about how giddy the idea of an interview with him made her. She didn't forget about the dangers, but dismissed them completely. This could turn out as badly as her uncovering something about Lionel Luthor- maybe it was selfish, but he liked his friends alive.

* * *

Clark snuck back in the house after breaking into Spike's crypt. Clem had been very helpful. His red eyes and fangy teeth were a little hard to get past at first but since Clark had caught him shedding a tear while watching _the Virgin Suicides_ he figured Buffy had been right with the 'harmless'. He could not believe the kind of things he'd been doing recently; and of **his own free will.** He knocked on the door to the basement and started down the stairs.

"Unless you want to see a naked vampire I suggest you go fetch me something to wear."

"Already picked up a few things. They seemed clean enough," he said bounding down the last steps.

Spike was still bleeding and naked, and the washing machine was making a sound that he had never heard any appliance make before. He looked at the clothes he had brought and looked back at Spike. He blushed when Spike leered at him, holding out his hands so Clark could get a good look.

Clark shook his head and turned around. "Hey, I'm sure you're cute and all, but I was looking at the blood not the body. I figured you wouldn't want to put on the clothes I brought you till after you'd eaten and healed a little," he explained, handing the blond the blood he had picked up.

He could hear Spike slurping quite loudly and tossing the bags aside. The vampire finished them all in under 2 minutes, although it seemed like an eternity to the alien.

When Clark turned to face him Spike was still in game face, licking the remaining plasma off the plastic of his last bag.

Clark held out the pile of clothes and Spike took them, quickly getting them on.

"So… is there a reason you're still here?" Spike asked him.

"Yeah, look, I don't know how to thank you."

"What?" Like that was the last thing he thought he'd hear from the boy.

"Look you saved Chloe tonight and for that I have to thank you," he said uncomfortably. "I should have known she couldn't resist the temptation to uncover things on her own. Well actually I did know that, I'm just surprised she went off half-cocked like that," he said, then reconsidered. "Well, maybe I'm not surprised."

Spike was going to unleash a scathing comment about the reason the girl was out there in the first place but recognized the boy was not only sincere, but taking responsibility. The kid had no idea why the girl had left the house it seemed, "she saw you in a rather intimate moment with our fair Buffy… Luckily for you I'm not the murderous fiend I was."

"Oh look, we didn't- I mean… We're friends."

Spike scoffed. "You're not friends. You can't be friends. Nobody can be just friends with her. She ensnares every male she meets! We have no control." Clark thought Spike was done, but he continued, his voice just above a whisper. "She creeps in, uninvited, and touches something inside us that makes us something other than ourselves, or maybe more ourselves than ever. She makes us all believe in something. Makes us see the world as less then hopeless. She doesn't understand her power. She just gets us. She gets us so we would do anything to be recognized by her. To be validated. She gets us so we want to crawl inside her."

Clark had moved aside to let Chloe down the stairs. Spike was having a moment and he didn't feel right interrupting. Clark was wondering though, was it really like that with all the males? And was what they shared not special? All the things they have in common, how much they understand each other? How much he wanted her to be… his home maybe. He shook himself out of it as Chloe came to stand in front of Spike.

"Ew, you want to crawl inside her?"

* * *

She told the manager about her abrupt departure on her lunch break and after her shift ended, shut her locker for the last time. She opted to walk home to give herself more time.

God knows the mess she would find back at the house.

* * *

Chloe wanted to ask the vampire about Sunnydale, but he looked like he was stuck on Buffy, and that served her just as well. Clark had stayed with them, clearly playing bodyguard. He knew she had a tape recorder hidden in her shirt pocket, and he couldn't really do a thing about it.

Spike was sitting sideways against the wall, smoking an old crooked cigarette. His hair was mussed and he kept pushing it back. He looked almost drunk from the blood-loss. His shirt and pants were too tight to wear over wounds and his broken leg was not even close to healing. He had put his towel over his privates and kept talking like his state of undress meant nothing.

"You see, pretty boy, we're all in the same boat. You feel like no one understands you more than she does, and you want to make things easier for her. Lift her burden. Hang on to her till she can't live without you. Except that she can, and will. Look at Xander, well, he'll never get to touch her but he'll spend his short insignificant little life pining over her. And G.I. Joe… That complete git will think of her every time he takes a demon down but does she ever really think of him? And Angel, please! He's probably still brooding about her as we speak. Oh, my true love sent me to hell! Oh, I killed a bunch of people after we shagged and we can never be happy! Oh, start the bloody violin music and hand me a barf bag." The vampire went quiet with contemplation after that. Clark didn't know what to say.

"What about you?" Chloe asked, taking a seat next to the blond.

"I'm beneath her," he whispered. "Way beneath her."

"You're still bleeding," Clark offered. The vampire looked like he was sweating and had a green tinge to him that really unsettled Clark.

"I'm hungry. I need blood. A lot of blood."

"You could have some of mine," Chloe offered, but Clark caught her arm and pulled it away from Spike. "Well, the guy's gotta eat and it's not like I'll turn into a vampire, right?"

Spike had gone to game face, the idea clearly getting to him. He was looking down, ashamed.

"You wouldn't, but don't; I need it so much, I can't be sure I could stop myself in time."

"If I go get some blood, Chloe, promise me you won't do anything stupid out of curiosity. Please?"

"Fine, whatever. Oh my God, what happened to the washing machine?" She asked when the thing made thrashing noises, sputtered and shut down. "Did you put your boots in there?

* * *

Clark came back a few minutes later with blood bank blood. Chloe was still trying to get Spike talking, while also trying to figure out how the washing machine could be salvaged.

For a practically skeletal and starving man, getting him to drink human blood was proving difficult. Clark couldn't argue he knew much of how vampires worked, but he didn't understand the big deal.

"I don't need it," he kept saying. "I'm stronger than that."

"You're withering away. The blood is pooling around you and expect us to just stand here?" Chloe finally said. "You saved my life. You said you needed blood. Take it."

Spike was getting woozy. His head had not been easy to keep upright and it finally fell against the wall to rest. His eyes closed. He didn't want to be weak. He didn't want to be pathetic. A chipped vampire with a soul who can't pay for anything or feed himself… He was a disgrace. He should have had the dignity to end his own life. Go out in a blaze like a man. Now he sees them, all the faces. Now he hears them, all the screams. With his eyes closed he can just make out his mother singing a song. His mother whom he killed. His own mother.

When Clark ripped the first package open and the smell hit his nostrils he knew his face had changed by the gasp it elicited and the heartbeats in the room speeding up. He whispered "don't tell Buffy" before he let Clark pour the life-saving red stuff down his throat. He couldn't be sure that they heard.

He moaned and took hold of another packet. Clark stepped back and pulled Chloe with him.

* * *

Pete was fixing himself a sandwich when Xander and Dawn walked in, laughing and teasing each other. They stopped when Pete dropped the pot of mayonnaise and it splattered all over the floor.

"Well, that's not good," Xander said, getting a mop to clean up the place.

"Oh, yeah. I'm an idiot," Pete said.

Xander moved his hands in front of Pete's face. "I think he's broken."

Dawn smiled and stared right back at Pete.

"Ah Dawnie, he thinks you're super cute and stuff."

"Well, he's not so bad himself."

"Teenagers. Looking at linoleum makes them hot."

"Ew Xander. What are you taking about?"

"So that was just me? Hum."

They all smiled. Pete could barely lower his eyes to pick up the broken mayo pot.

While Xander took the trash out to the curb Dawn went directly to the refrigerator.

"So, what's up?" She asked, eying some funky looking yogurt.

"Your sister's at work and there's a vampire in the basement."

"Welcome to my life."

END CHAPTER


End file.
